


The Fall of the Argo

by LaughingCactus62



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-18
Updated: 2016-08-01
Packaged: 2018-05-02 06:37:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 32,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5238152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaughingCactus62/pseuds/LaughingCactus62
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Praetors Zeus and Bellona of the country Olympus, decide to hold the famous Summer Solstice on the world's first flying cruise ship: The Argo. Olympus' most well-known and prestigious leaders and their families--Greek and Roman-- will be aboard to discuss the issues of Olympus and the rumors and threats of the mysterious up and coming dictator trying to take over. Not to mention the possible civil war between the racial discrimination of Greeks lurking beneath the shoes of wealthy men and women, who seem blind to it all, while the poor see it with clarity. A Revolution is about to unfold, as we follow the events, the teens of these leaders and their lives as some live while others don't before, during and after the fall of The Argo.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Dinner Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> The Fanfiction Writer's Oath  
> I promise solemnly:  
> 1\. to write about characters with accuracy and not out of character,  
> 2\. to respect the comments of readers and take their advice to improve,  
> 3\. to correct grammar and have a Beta look over my chapters,  
> 4\. to finish the story, feeling accomplished, unless you do not feel you have the inspiration to continue.  
> I accept these responsibilities and shall honor them always.

Percy

“Okay guys, gold or silver?” Rachel said as she held up her mismatched nails.

Grover looked up from his phone, astonished, from the back seat and exclaimed, “Rachel, they tested that nail polish on animals!”

“Oh, Shut it, tree-hugger!” Rachel joked with a smile as she pulled her blue hair brush out of her back pocket. She had her freckled legs folded crossed and opened the shotgun mirror to brush her wild red hair. “And for your information, they’re not. Besides, you’re such a hypocrite! Weren’t you the one who said, ‘Screw all those global warming forest freaks!’, after they built a garden over our senior lunch table?”

“Nope, I don’t believe you.” Grover said flatly, looking out the window, arms crossed.

Rachel gave Grover a sly smile and sing-songed, “Oh, Percy!”

Percy, sitting in the driver’s seat of his blue Jeep smirked, “Dude, I’ve got it on tape.”

“Ah-ha!” Rachel yelled in delight and pointed a finger at Grover saying, “Ever since you started dating Juniper, co-president of the Eco Warriors, along-side Moi, you’ve been all about ‘saving the world’!”

Grover, in denial, yelled, “I’ve always been about saving the world!”, his shrilly, high-pitch voice filled the car.

Rachel resumed painting her nails. “Yeah right! You’ve got to be kidding…”

Percy usually didn’t tune out their annual after school bickering session, but he knew today was the last day to see that girl from across the parking lot.

Calypso.

He could see her saying her final goodbyes to her friends. He watched as she laughed, nodding her head sweetly to a girl telling her goodbye. He wondered if he should say something. He’d been trying to avoid their last moment together because, honestly, he didn’t want anything to be the end of what they had.

From the distance, he watched as she turned her around, her eyes searching for something. Confusion crossed her face until her sad almond eyes met his. His palms were starting to sweat, as she made her way towards him in her white dress, caramel braided hair and peach skin.

Gods, she’s beautiful.

Ever since she enrolled in Goode High School--which was exactly 2 months ago---

Not that he kept track or anything...

He couldn’t help but stutter, gawk and drool when she passed him in the hallways. They had become friends after she went to one of his swim meets. Percy was hoping it would become more, but now that her father, a military man,was being relocated to Australia; he would never see her again.

His thoughts wandered to what it would feel like to kiss her on the lips, instead of that hug he got after he won 1st place at the State Championship Swim Meet. He wasn’t complaining, though. That awesome hug was better than nothing. And quite frankly, he was surprised she still kept talking to him, because he kept blushing and stuttering like Porky Pig on Looney Tunes.

Definitely not his finest moment.

After realizing she was halfway to his car, he quickly checked his mouth for drool, ran his already messy black hair with his hands and stumbled out of the car with swag.

He heard laughter from his car and started walking towards Calypso, hoping the blush of embarrassment wasn’t showing too much.

They were within 15 feet of each other when a black SUV stopped Calypso, beeping and rolling down the window. She bent down and started talking to the driver, holding up her index finger with scrunched eyebrows. Quickly, she ran around the huge car and straight into his arms. Her body was warm, but her hands felt cold wrapped around his neck. The smelled of cinnamon encased him, along with the dancing strands of hair tickling his ear.

She released him, wiping her eyes and laughed with embarrassment? Nervousness? Sadness? He wasn’t sure.

Percy studied her face with a new realization and blurted, “Wow, I didn’t know you had freckles.”

He could just see the, your an idiot flash through his mind.

Calypso laughed a real laugh and glanced at his embarrassed face. She put a hand on his cheek, teasing, “I didn’t know you could blush.”

Percy began to smile, and then frowned, “I guess this is it, huh?”

Of course it was, she’s leaving for good, he thought glumly.

His whole life had been a failure, or so he thought. Year, after year, no matter how innocent or young Percy was, he was expelled from every school he’d been to. He made few friends and had many enemies. He was so unlucky compared to his sister, who always found dollar bills lying on the sidewalks of Olympus for her to pick up. And to top it off, he felt like a failure in his father’s eyes. How in the world could he run a company by the time he graduated high school, let alone be the CEO?

The only thing Percy excelled in was swimming. It was like he belonged in the water. It was because of swimming that got him into Goode High School, the last good Greek school in the country, Olympus. His parents told him it was his last chance to finish the year off strong before graduating.

For a month or so, he thought things were finally looking up for him and his senior year. He met his best friend Grover Underwood and was going to the same school as his childhood friend, Rachel. Percy even had all the places he was going to take Calypso during the summer planned out. But with his luck, obviously that wasn’t going to happen.

“Yeah, my dad’s already got everything packed. We’re leaving in 30 minutes.”

She looked down and for a second, Percy thought she was going to cry.

But, she just kept her head down, not wanting to meet his eyes. He tipped her chin upwards to his face and said, “Hey, don’t worry. I’ll write to you over the summer.”

She smiled and joked lightly, saying, “You? Writing a letter? I’d like to see that!”

“I would!”

“Promise?”

Percy smiled, “Calypso, I promise.”

Suddenly, it became really quiet and Percy glanced at her lips and then her eyes. She seemed to be thinking the same thing and with a silent agreement they cocked their heads to the side and …

BEEP! BE-BEEP! BEEEEEPPPPP!

They jerked backwards, their faces red and quickly glanced at the SUV. Percy’s hand found its way to the back of his head and the other one in his pocket. Her driver, rolled down the window and pointed at his watch, but she ignored that and yelled, “Give me a second!”

Calypso, blushing, surprised Percy.

She kissed him.

Grabbing both sides of his shirt, she pulled him straight to her. Right then and there. It was the kind of kiss that left him wanting more. It wasn’t quick and gone by the time he opened his eyes. It was slow, capturing the mood perfectly.

BEEP!

She pulled back and yelled, “Alright! Alright! I’m coming!” to the driver, although her eyes were on Percy with a slight smile tracing her pretty pink lips. And with that, she gave Percy a quick hug, ran to the SUV and shut the car door; leaving him staring at a black non-see-through window as the SUV left the parking lot, the school and him for good.

He could have stood there forever in shock, but Rachel honked his car and yelled, “Come on, Lover boy! It’s the last day of school and I’m getting sick of looking at this wasteland!”

When Percy got in the car and dropped them off at their houses, the whole time, Grover teased him with the song, Sitting in a Tree to saying: ‘She’ll always be your biggest what if!’ Rachel, on the other hand, acted as if he had finally become a man and said, “My little Perce is finally growing up!” And of course she had to add in the fake tears. Rachel always had a way of being overly dramatic.

He rolled his eyes, asking, “Remind me again, why I drive you guys everywhere?”

“Because without us, you’d probably get into a huge car accident!” Grover said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Rachel, changing the radio station, laughed and said, “Grover’s right, you’re probably the most reckless driver I’ve ever seen. I bet your driving instructor peed in his pants when you ran over that Stop Sign.”

Percy broke into a laugh. “It was a one-time accident!”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

He came to his house around 5:30 after dropping off Rachel and Grover, and was starving for some dinner. Percy walked down their long hallway that was filled with shells, crystals and more exotic sea stuff that his father had gotten from foreign beaches he’d traveled to. Each one proudly displayed with a title and date. Percy’s favorite one was the sea shell he found at Montauk, New York in America. It was naturally ocean blue and had been his favorite color since he was six. He had a lot of good memories there … Except for the time Hazel almost died by drowning. That wasn’t so much fun.

“Mom! Hazel! I’m home!”

Percy entered the kitchen to find his mother busying herself with the oven. He bent down to kiss mom’s cheek.

“Hey, sweetie. Got you your favorite.” She pulled out a bag of blue jelly beans from her purse on the kitchen counter and handed them to him.

“Thanks Mom!” he said, already stuffing them in his mouth. “Dad still at work?”

His mom, Sally Jackson, gave him a puzzled look and said, “Uh no, he’s actually upstairs in his study. Business call from Praetors Zeus and Bellona.” She pulled out the garlic bread from the oven she made and set them on the stove. When she was done she leaned against the refrigerator, her full brown bangs covered her blue eyes until she looked him in the eye saying, “We’re having a family meeting.”

“Oh come on!,” bursting with a groan, he slumped against the refrigerator. “If I have to sit through another lecture on how I will become the next CEO of Jackson Seas Incorporation, I might just die inside.”

“Percy! You know if your father heard you, he would have an absolute fit!” She scolded him and then sighed with sympathy. “Listen, Percy, I want you to do what you love, but for the time being; you have to follow through with your father’s plans.”

“Why can’t Hazel do it?” he whined like a little 5 year old.

“You know she get’s sea-sick, hates sailing, plus-- wait a second…” She stopped mid-lecture and gave him a confused stare. “Didn’t you pick her up?”

“N—”

As if right on cue his sister, Hazel, quietly opened the kitchen door with a sigh. With her back facing them, he could see her quickly fixing her sleeves and skirt. Just as her hands were reaching to fix her hair, mom knocked her fist lightly on the island countertop.

Percy had never seen someone turn around with a fright so quickly. She looked like a deer in headlights.“M-mom! Percy! What are you guys doing here?!” She fiddled with her gold, diamond necklace and smiled innocently at them.

“We live here.” Percy replied bluntly.

Mom crossed her arms with disbelief. “Alright Hazel, where were you?”

But before Hazel could answer, the home phone rang. Reluctantly, Mom went to get the home phone and Hazel gave Percy her signature please-cover-for-me bambi face. He tried to resist but those big golden eyes made it really hard. Then she mouthed the words: drunk and window.

Styx! She got me, he thought to himself.

Last Saturday night he went to Connor and Travis Stoll’s epic party. Saying the party was crazy, was an understatement! Beer pong, an amazing pool, a chocolate fountain, dancing and to top it all off : people were burning couches and throwing it off the roof into the lake. Percy didn’t get drunk over girls. But he was being stupid and decided to drink his sorrows of Calypso moving to Australia...

He guessed there was a first for everything.

His mind constantly blurred, blacked out and he could have sworn he saw shooting stars, but this is what Percy did remember: him surfing the crowd (that was awesome), a goat and him flying on a magic carpet (he’s still debating if that was real or a dream) and Grover shoving him through Hazel’s window at 4am.

Her window faced the street and had a big tree to the side of it that was used for more than just their old tree-house days. Nowadays, it was their entrance and escape route to get out of the house without their parents noticing late at night or early in the morning.

He was hoping that Hazel hadn’t noticed, since it had been a week and she hadn’t mentioned it. But, now it was obvious she was waiting for the right time to blackmail him. He looked at her for a second, proudly smiling inwardly, he taught her so well…

When mom finished talking on the phone she came over to kiss their heads, clearly distracted, “Go get changed. We’re having dinner in 10 minutes. And Hazel, don’t do that again.”

“Got it, Mom!” And with that she was out of the kitchen.

“You know, she’s been really secretive and busy lately…” Mom murmured thoughtfully staring at the spot Hazel was standing at before she disappeared.

“Well, she’s got a boyfriend now. Hank, remember?” Percy said. But before she could say anything negative about Hank, he quickly said “And besides, this will take her mind off Sammy. You know it’s been really tough on her.”

No matter what, he had to stick up for Hazel. Even if he hated that snobby, stuck up, rude, self-entitled roman brat---boyfriend. He meant boyfriend… Its not so much that Percy was was blindly agreeing with Hazel so that she could date Hank. It’s that when it came down to certain things, they always had each other’s back and if Hank (AKA Doucheface) made her happy and get over a certain boy…. Well, then he was all for it.

Because, if it was under completely different circumstances, he would have kicked Hank’s ass for even stepping on the front porch of their house, let alone kiss Hazel in front of Percy.

Percy silently shook his head; the nerve of that boy...

Mom smiled sadly and they both stood there silently. He knew what she was thinking. They all loved Sammy, he was the little brother Percy always wanted and probably would have been Hazel’s boyfriend, if he hadn’t …

Mom stopped him mid-thought and exclaimed, “Oh my gods! The lasagna!” She ran over to the oven, opening it, releasing a big trail of black smoke.

Percy coughed after inhaling the fumes and yelled over the fire alarm. “Should I order Pizza Hut or Dominos?”

 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

After ordering Dominos, Percy went to his room and started changing into shorts and a tank. He turned on his flat screen TV to waste time and started flipping through the channels until he found something good. As Percy flipped through the Good Morning Olympus News , he saw the biggest luxurious ship he had ever laid eyes on. Percy flipped back, mouth falling open and stared at the screen while the lady next to the ship started taking:

“‘Hello, I’m Liz Stevens reporting live from Good Morning Olympus. I’m here at the beach ports of Olympus standing right behind the world’s first luxury flying ship, The Argo. And here we have the world-famous inventor who built this one of a kind boat, Mr. Hephaestus. So why did you build this incredible ship?”

Percy felt someone slide into his couch beside him quietly, but was too shocked watching the TV to look. A man about the size of a boulder, with a hunched back and big muscular long arms with a dark brown beard came into view. He towered over the news reporter and Percy couldn’t help but think he was a non-green version of the Hulk. The only unsettling thing about his appearance were his chicken legs. They weren’t real chicken legs, but they were skinny. Really skinny. He also had crutches and it was obvious that he was—

“Handicapped.” whispered Hazel. Percy wasn’t surprised that Hazel had came into his room; they always shared everything, and that meant his Flat Screen TV. Hazel wasn’t the kind of teen to be interested in the 21st century technology. The Jackson family had always dubbed her as the “old soul”.

“Uh, yeah, this is my ship. I uh, built this…” he scratched his ear and coughed loudly into the microphone. “Maybe about 2, 3 months ago. It was supposed to be for fun--a little project of mine--nothing big. Anyways, my brother, Zeus, you know the Big Guy of Olympus, thought it’d be a cool idea to host the Summer Solstice on it for whatever reason.” Hephaestus said, looking everywhere and anywhere but the camera.

Someone was obviously camera shy. And bad with social settings.

“For fun?” Percy exclaimed. “Building huge massive flying ships is his idea of fun? I wonder what else he builds? I bet he’s got an army of pattons for video games and iphones that won’t come out in stores for another 10 years.”

Hazel gave him an exasperated look. “Seriously, Percy? That’s all you got from what he said?”

“What?”

“Praetor Zeus is hosting the Summer Solstice on that flying ship. Which means that all the most important people of Olympus and their families will be on there, including us.”

Realization hit Percy like a ton of bricks. For years, Percy and Hazel had been able to avoid going to the Summer Solstice by being on “vacation” or “summer camp” or being “sick” during the summer. But this year, their dad had finally set the law that they would have to go, so they would at least become acquaintances with the kids, like them, that will become the leaders of Olympus soon.

Percy was about to say something, when his mom shouted, “Percy! Hazel! The pizza’s here. Come down!”

With a sigh, he turned off the TV and got up from the couch. He pulled up Hazel, until he noticed something on her. He paused and got a good look of her. Her long curly hair was in a messy bun at the top of her head and she was wearing Jupiter Academy purple sweat pants and her usual necklace. But what made him stop were the bright red bruises that traveled up from her wrist and forearm.

He took her arm in his hands and inspected the bruises. He looked at her face with concern. “Hazel, your arm… what happened?”

Hazel just realizing what he was staring at; quickly covered it up with her long sleeve white tank. “It’s nothing, I just fell on my way home after school. I guess it hasn’t healed yet.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled at him reassuringly.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” The bruises looked pretty bad and Hazel wasn’t the type to just fall randomly on the side of the street.

She rolled her eyes and grabbed his arm, pulling him out of his room, towards the dining room. “I’m fine, Percy. Honestly, I’m not a baby. Anyways, did you have a little goodbye kiss with Calypso? Everybody’s talking about it.”

Percy knew she had changed the subject and the bruise did bother him, but Hazel would never lie to him and vice-versa. He was lucky their relationship was much better than other siblings he had seen before. Percy wondered if it would have been different if his parents had adopted a different girl instead of her. But he pushed the thought out of his head; life without Hazel would have been the most pathetic only-child life he could ever imagine with over-protective, hovering parents.

Percy sheepishly didn’t answer. Instead, it was his turn to change the subject. “Race ya!”

Hazel laughed and the two of them thundered down the stairs to the dining room.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

They got there just in time to see Mom put the pizza on the dining table. Even though, there were two maids on either side of the room, Percy’s mom still tried to do things on her own.

He spotted his dad, sitting at the head of the table with the typical Jackson look: his black beard and hair, sea green eyes, and tan skin. He was wearing his usual khaki Bermuda shorts and Hawaiian shirt. To put it short, Dad wasn’t the average businessman.

Percy plopped down in his chair and said a quick hi to everyone before digging into his slice of heaven. Meat-lover pizza, his all-time favorite.

“Percy,” His mom called.

“Yeah?”

“The altar, honey.”

“Oh right, sorry.”

To the corner of the dining room, was an altar, almost resembling a fireplace and was decorated in Greek and Roman colors of orange and purple.

It was a tradition, a BIG tradition in Olympus, where a person would give half of the best or favorite part of their meal and burn it for a good life and great luck. No one knows exactly where it originated from but as far as Percy knew, it was a tradition since the beginning of Olympus.

He got up from the table and gave half of his meat topping to the fire and watched it burn, sending a prayer of no meaning.

After Hazel gave away her half of her crust of the pizza, she kissed their dad on the cheek before sitting down. “Evening, Daddy. How was work?”

He looked up from his newspaper and smiled, making his laughing lines more pronounced. “Just fine, Hazel.”

Mom, looking at particularly no one, smiled and said, “Your father has news that he wants to tell you two about.” Percy and Hazel shared a glance at each other, knowing it had something to do with what they heard on TV.

Dad stopped eating his slice of pizza and sat back. “The reason I called for a family meeting is because Praetors Zeus and Bellona have decided to hold the Summer Solstice on a flying ship, The Argo.” Dad paused and looked at Percy and Hazel, as if to wait for a complaint or groan, but they said nothing. So he continued, “ Here’s the thing, even though the Summer Solstice isn’t until June the 21st, Zeus and Bellona have issued the Summer Solstice will be a month trip on the Argo, starting on June 1st to July 1st.”

And that’s when the complaining started.

“Dad! You know I hate the water!” Hazel whined. “I was okay at first, because I thought it would be a 3 day trip, but a month! That’s too long!”

Dad with his calm voice reasoned. “Now, sweetie, I know it will be hard---”

“Wait a second, what are we even going to be doing there for a whole month. Is there really that many issues to discuss with the Olympus leaders?” Percy interrupted.

“Well, the praetors have noticed many of the leaders of Olympus had kids that were all around the same age. And since most of them would be graduating now or in the next 2 years, they thought it would be a good idea to create friendships before the kids started becoming leaders of their future companies. Plus, we’ll be traveling the world, stopping in so many exotic locations, not to mention the Argo’s a flying cruise ship.”

“So while the big adults are discussing issues of Olympus, we’ll be dumped at a teen daycare where we learn to do trusting exercises blindfolded and sing kumbaya around a campfire, right?”

Dad countered back at Percy, his calmness slowly becoming a storm. “Well, maybe if you hadn’t skipped the last few Summer AND Winter Solstices, I would have let you not go to this –”

Percy couldn’t stop now. “It was during school! I couldn’t have gone to a Winter Solstice to begin with---”

Hazel, trying to use her bambi eyes on Dad (which was totally an unfair advantage) begged, “But why do I have to go? Can’t you just leave me at home? I won’t do anything too--”

“Guys, listen up!” Mom had one of her rare stern looks. She immediately shut everyone up. She softened her voice and looked at him and Hazel. “Hazel, I know it’s a month trip, but it will be fun! Plus, Dr. Apollo gave me the best sea-sickness pill just for you. And Percy, you would be missing such a great opportunity in meeting friends, and you love boats! I’d really hate for you to do something you don’t want to do, but you need to come. Just think of it as an adventure! Who knows, you might actually love it. And besides, after you graduate high school, you’ll become an apprentice to your father, and when the time is right, you’ll be the new CEO of the Jackson Seas Inc.”

Half way through mom’s lecture; Percy received a text from Rachel:  
hey fish boy! me and grover and a few others are going to the beach and the tides are great 2night for surfing, comin or what?? :D

Not wanting to waste anymore time, he quickly said, “Fine, I’ll go.” Mom, smiling, mouthed a thank you. Percy smiled back, feeling guilty, knowing that he agreed just so he could leave.

He watched as Hazel stormed out of the room with a look of betrayal on her face that was directed at him. Percy made a note of buying Hazel her favorite comfort food, shrimp gumbo, as an apology. He hated when Hazel was mad at him, but they were bound to go to the Summer Solstice sooner or later.

Honestly, he really didn’t want to go. But the last thing he wanted to do was sit in another lecture about how he is the future of Jackson Seas Inc., which is true. Besides, how hard would it be to survive with about 20 or more other hormone, emotional and probably really snobby teens, who were pampered with money 24/7?

He’d seen some of those kids walk pass him in the mall; with their newest Venus fashion clothes and butlers carrying a dozen or so shopping bags, barely trying to catch up. At least, Percy and his sister weren’t like that. Sure they were rich, but his parents taught him to be modest and to give to the poor. In some ways, Percy felt a little embarrassed about his life when talking to friends who weren’t wealthy. Basically, he tried to avoid the topic of wealth altogether.

Well… at least on the bright side, Rachel would be coming, and he could probably persuade his parents to bring Grover... And with Hazel being there, it wouldn’t be boring … But, then if she started throwing up, that would suck too…

He texted Rachel from underneath the table about what time he should get there, while lying to his parents saying, “Well, if that’s it, then I’m heading over to Grover’s house for a senior graduation party.”

He didn’t lie to them often, even more less so to his mom but she thought it was too dangerous to go night surfing, even though he went about once a month for the past 3 years with his friends.

He got up from the table, kissing his mom on the cheek, patting his dad on the back and jokingly saluting the maids, winking at them, who both blushed slightly. Right as he was about to leave the room, his father said with an amused smile, “Not so fast, Perce.”

Percy sighing, back tracked to his seat and looked at his dad.

Dad took a sip of his blue coke and said, “I have one condition that you must follow, while you’re on The Argo.”

Percy, not really listening at his Dad, looked at the text he received from Rachel:  
Come as soon as possible! Ur missing some killer waves :) and bring a cake, we’ve got the beer covered ;)

He glanced quickly at his father and said, “What’s the condition?”

“I want you to become friends with Annabeth Chase.”

Percy had never heard of that name before, but at that moment he didn’t really care to ask who she was. While texting Rachel that he was on his way over, he quickly said, “Yeah, Annabelle Chain. Got it!”

He was almost out the room when his mom said, “No, sweetie, its Annabeth Chase.”

He flashed them a smile, before heading out into the hallway towards the garage, shouting, “Don’t worry, me and Annabe Chaser will be the best of friends!”  
And with that, he raced off to his car outside, thinking of his final last days before he went off to Prison, AKA, the Argo.

Up Next: Jason


	2. The Perfect Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jason's POV

A picture. Teen. Pale skin, black hair and eyes, and a trace of Italian descent. Memories flashbacked to years of them at many summer and winter solstices. Easy.

“Nico di Angelo, 17, heir to the richest man in Olympus.”

A girl, this time. With wavy blonde hair and steely grey eyes. Jason knew this one in a heartbeat, only because his older sister, Thalia had pictures of her everywhere in her room. 

“Annabeth Chase. 18. Next in line as CEO of The Chase Athenaeum of Intelligence, also known as the CAI.” 

Lupa, his teacher flipped to the next picture with a stern look. He quickly scanned the picture and pinpointed the fastest way to determine who she was. Of course, the eyes. No one had those eyes.

“Hazel Jackson. 16. Adopted and future unknown.” Jason looked to Lupa for some type of encouragement, but she just turned to the next picture and pointed at the next teen he had to memorize.

A young adult. Green eyed, like the sea and hair jet black against the lighting in the photo. He didn’t know this guy. He looked about the same age as Jason, give or take a year; but the look he was giving the camera vaguely reminded him of his sister. The kind of rebel look that said: I don’t take shit from anybody.

Not knowing the boy, under the gaze of Lupa’s watchful and judging eyes made him feel stupid. He was the praetor’s son; it was his job to know everybody. He backtracked and looked at his eyes. Where has he seen that face?

Lupa, interrupting his thoughts, frowned. “Percy Jackson. 18. Soon-to-be CEO of Jackson Seas Incorporation.” She eyed him with disappointment. “You didn’t know. Go over this again and come back to me. You need to know every teen who will be boarding the Argo.”

Jason groaned inwardly. He had already gone over all the pictures for a week straight. There were so many; he even went to Reyna’s villa and spent the whole night studying with her. But all he said in return was, “Yes, Lupa.”

His thoughts wandered to Reyna and where she was. Probably, studying as usual or looking over paperwork. Nowadays, it seemed that Reyna and he were constantly stacked sky high with paperwork and duties that had to be done. It was his father and Praetor Bellona’s way of saying; we don’t feel like doing the dirty work, but we’ll just say it’s preparing you for Praetorship! Have Fun!  
He wasn’t fond of it by any means, but someone had to do it.

She stood up and walked over to the window that overlooked the capital of Olympus. She put her hands behind her and faced the window. “Jason, the Summer Solstice is coming soon. Very soon. How prepared do you think you are?”

Jason never had a problem with being put on the spot. Did he like it? Not particularly. Was he used to it? All his life, yes. But with Lupa, it was a completely different story. When he had first met his mentor Lupa at the age of 10, he assumed she was just a strict teacher that Reyna and he would have to put up with. But at the same time, he would be no where without her.

There were only 2 well known mentors that all Olympians sent their kids to whether they liked it or not. Chosen randomly, an olympian would either become a pupil of the kind but successful Chiron or the strict and militaristic student of Lupa. The simple fact is: they shaped your life, sometimes without you even noticing. They influenced your personality to a great deal; who your friends were and even to the point of what your descent would become, as in Roman or Greek. Most people only saw Chiron or Lupa once every month and they checked on how things were going. But Jason and Reyna saw Lupa every day, because of who their parents were. And that was a whole new level of parental hovering.

“I feel very prepared, Lupa.” Jason said, back straight, voice clear and eyes looking her straight in the head.

She turned around, facing him and frowned saying, “Not good enough. You, Jason, are the Praetor’s son. I expect perfect excellence from you and Reyna. The world is watching the two of you, and you cannot afford to have a slip up like your sister, Thalia has in the past.”

Lupa, from the start never liked Thalia. And the fact that she was chosen to follow the leader of the Greeks, Chiron, increased Lupa’s dislike for her even more. Jason, on the other hand, loved his sister and her kick-ass attitude. He sometimes envied how free and rebellious she was. He was so serious compared to her, and he wasn’t much of a rule breaker either.

“Lupa, I thought Thalia was going to be praetor. Its tradition, one Roman, being Reyna of the Ramírez-Arellano family and one Greek, my sister of the Grace family.”

“I predict there will be a change of plans in who the leaders of Olympus will be.”

Jason scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. “What do you mean? I can’t be praetor, I’m Roman. Are you saying another family will replace the Graces?”

“Of course not. The Grace and Ramírez-Arellano families were the founders of Olympus. I believe that Thalia is not fit or focused enough for Praetorship. You, Jason, on the other hand, are the better candidate. I’m afraid you will become a---”

Jason, already thinking ahead of her, interrupted, “No! You can’t make. I’m Roman, I’ve always been Roman. I’m not going Gree---”

Lupa, with a sad voice, said, “Interrupting an elder? You’re already going Greek, boy. From now on, you are to report to Chiron. Not me.”

“I don’t want to. Lupa, I can’t become a---”

Lupa, in a burst of anger, slammed her fist on the table. Jason, being so shocked, shut up in a heartbeat. He’d never seen her like this before. 

“Jason, don’t you get it? If you don’t become a Greek, for the first time in Olympus history, a new family will take over. And do you have any idea who that will be? The Augustus family. And who do you think would absolutely love to rule this country? Octavian. You know Octavian, I know him and let’s be honest: he’s power hungry, overly ambitious and blackmails the poor and innocent. So that is why you must go Greek, Jason. Or he’ll go greek, which will probably be a disaster and Olympus would rebel in return. People don’t like change. They’ve known your family for generations. The odds are safer in your hands.”

Everything Jason ever believed in: the Roman in him, his morals, his values, his honor, crumbled down to dust.

“You must not discuss this with anyone, including Reyna or Thalia. We are not sure if Thalia does not want to become praetor, but in the meantime, you will learn the Greek ways and how to interact with Greeks better.”

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, interrupting the lecture Lupa was about to give him. “Come in.”

Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano stepped into Lupa’s office with an air of confidence and gracefulness, back straight and her best friend, a cup of coffee in her hand. She gave a small nod that greeted Jason and turned to Lupa with her chin up. “Good morning, Lupa.”

Lupa smiled at her student with such a proud look, as if she was looking at a 1st place trophy she’d won. He couldn’t help but feel a little irritated how quickly she forgot about him and his feelings. 

“Reyna! What a pleasant surprise. Here to take Jason, correct?”

“Yes, our car is ready.”

“Well, I suppose you both shall be off, don’t want to be late. Today is a big day, isn’t it? Have you memorized your speech?”

Reyna gave a small nod and answered respectfully, “Yes, Lupa. We’ve already practiced.”

“Good, I expect outstanding reports as usual! And, give my regards to Praetors Zeus and Bellona.”

“As always.” Reyna and Jason both saluted Lupa and exited her office in silence. Jason glanced back at Lupa, hoping she might say her final goodbyes to him, but instead she just gave him a firm look and tilted her chin up, as if to say: Keep your eye on the prize. 

Like a true soldier.

It was then he realized that the Roman he thought he had, the Roman he treasured, prized, and loved had slightly softened. He didn’t want to admit the tiny dent in his always perfect armor was not as perfect as he thought it was. And in the end, for the first time, as he walked through those doors, he felt unsure of himself.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He unconsciously scrunched his eyebrows in frustration.

Jason had the sudden urge to tell Reyna, since her older sister, Hylla had given her Praetorship to Reyna. But then, his mind flashed back to Lupa and her warning and decided against it.  
He couldn’t believe it. He was angry and sad and frustrated. Even though it wasn’t official, would Thalia really make Jason become a Greek because she didn’t want to be praetor? Is that why his parents constantly made him do all the praetor work and papers with Reyna, because they knew all along she would never be praetor? He felt betrayed, but at the same time a little happy. He loved being a Roman, but Jason had secretly expected himself to be a Praetor too. People always said he would be the better praetor compared to his sister, but he never let that get to his head because their could only be one roman, Reyna and one greek, Thalia….or Jason, now.

Once the door was closed and they started walking down the hallway, Jason mustered up a forced smile at Reyna. As soon as she looked up, his anger slowly simmered to nothing and in fondness , he bumped his body into hers lightly, joking. His attention solely on her. There were better things to focus on. “Why is it, whenever you come into to Lupa’s office when I’m there, she’s always so happy to see you? Huh?”

She looked at him in annoyance, but he could see a small, very tiny smile creeping up her lips. Instead of smiling though, Reyna took a sip of her coffee. It seemed to be the only thing that ever calmed her nerves, no matter how many times Jason had told her it was unhealthy for her.

He looked at Reyna (strangely enough, something he did more and more, nowadays…) in her black skirt, white blouse, gold tie and purple suit jacket: the Jupiter Academy uniform for all girls. Her long raven hair was neatly braided to the side and even though, when she walked into Lupa’s office with a look of confidence, now she just looked tired and stressed.

Jason smiled, concerned. “Alright, Ramírez-Arellano, what’s up?”

She gave an irritated sigh and said, “What are you talking about, Grace?”

She exited the building, fast-paced, walking on the sidewalk toward the limousine and their driver.

As frustrated as Jason was, he was used to Reyna’s closed off personality. Ever since she met him when they were ten and his father and her mother became Praetors of Olympus, she had always been rather inexpressive and stone-faced towards him. Towards everyone. Jason, on the other hand, was the exact opposite to balance her out. When she was feeling down or stressed, he tried his best to act funny (which he completely sucked at) and to cheer her up or to see her crack a smile. She only ever let her guard down to him, and he liked that. He felt special that Reyna only seemed to open up to him, and vice versa.

But in reality, Jason was pretty similar to Reyna. Suddenly a thought occurred to him, Why don’t I act like myself in front of her? It’s exhausting...

“Reyna! Reyna, wait up!” he called as he jogged to catch up to her. He grabbed Reyna by the shoulders and steadied himself and her, looking her in the eyes. 

He traced the pretty curves of her eyes and the eyelashes that surrounded her deep black eyes with his. Did she put on makeup?

Wait… Stop! Focus Jason!, he thought, trying to direct his thoughts to the main issue.

“It’s the graduation speech, isn’t it? You’re nervous, right?”

The minute she rolled her eyes, he knew he hit the subject right on target. In all honestly, he was a bit surprised of himself. He normally was really bad at the hidden messages girls were always trying to convey.

“Please, Jason, I have important things to worry about.” She pushed past him and kept walking with another fake, soon-to-be praetor confident walk of hers.

This time, it was Jason’s turn to roll his eyes, as he grabbed her arm and stopped her. “Oh, come on, Reyna. We’re seniors and we’re graduating today. We have to do a speech and our parents, Lupa and the rest of the seniors and their parents will be watching! I don’t know about you but I’m nervous as hell right now. So stop the attitude and that praetor walk of yours, Ramírez-Arellano. We’re in this together.” He softened with the last sentence and watched as Reyna huffed, letting all her walls down, unmasking the constant poker face she carried everywhere she went. She tucked a loose strand of long silky black hair behind her ear and bit her pink lips with scrunched worried eyebrows.

“Okay, so maybe I’m slightly nervous.” She only admitted partially, but Jason was okay with that.

He touched her braid that reached to her mid-waist. And gave her a warm smile, letting his hand slide down from her arm to her hand and squeezed it. “Rey, you’re going to do an amazing job, like you always do. Quit worrying about how everyone will react, and besides you’ll have me every step of the way. Because, let’s face it, we all know you need me.”

Reyna rolled her eyes, and then laughed at the last comment. It was always refreshing to hear her laugh. She did it so rarely. When she looked up at him, she gave him a full smile, and gods, did she look beautiful. Her sarcasm dripped in a sweet sigh. “Yes, because everyone needs a Jason, I assume.”

“No, I’m pretty sure it’s just you.”

She gave a look of joking disbelief. “Well, when that happens, you can say: ‘I told you so’.”

He felt a blush coming up his face, but he just smiled while nervously scratching the back of his neck, trying to play it cool.

Then all of a sudden, two girls about the age of 14 to 15 walked to them and flirtatiously waved while giggling. “Good morning, Jason!” they said in synchronized voices.

Jason never understood what people found to be so interesting about him. He always considered himself quiet, and introverted. He wasn’t that cool, or talkative. Although, he could be when he was in front of the cameras. Something his mother taught him a great deal from a very early age.

Always be charismatic in the cameras, Jason! People will like you more.

For some reason, every time his mother said that with her ever perfect beauty pageant smile, he felt sick in his stomach.

But apparently, that’s what the ladies loved, or so he read in the article about himself in Olympus Weekly. Jason usually ignored all the publicity he got, but his sister laughed at how ridiculous the articles were becoming of Jason, so he decided to read a page of it.

Two Words: Complete Trash.

Although, he wasn’t going to say that to the magazine either. The only things they got right about Jason is that he loved heights and he had blue eyes, or as the magazine put it: “dreamy orbs of the sky”.  
The girls gave a brief closed smile at Reyna, but it was obvious it wasn’t very genuine or kind. Maybe his eyes were playing with him, but he could’ve sworn there was a hint of jealousy when they coolly said, “Reyna.”

He separated himself from Reyna and gave a slight bow in respect, turning his attention to the girls. He politely looked at them and gave a smile. “Good morning, ladies. Is there anything I can help you with?”

They giggled, tangling their arms and hands together and looking at each other with flushed cheeks. Jason couldn’t help but think how ridiculous it would be if he ever saw Reyna and Thalia doing this. That, of course, will probably never happen.

Finally the girl with the brown hair had the courage to answer. “Oh not at all, Mr. Grace. We just wanted to wish you good luck with your graduation speech! We’re sure you’ll do great!”  
The other girl with braces piped up in a high pitched voice and said, “We read it was going to be today in the Olympus Weekly. I just happened to come across it, not that I was looking through the magazine to see your face or anything! Because that would be totally weird…”

Jason, so used to this from random girls and boys, that he just gave her another practiced politician smile and said, “Thanks for the luck. And call me Jason, Mr. Grace sounds so formal. It’s what people call my father.”

They both giggled again. Jason hadn’t meant that to be funny. Apparently, giggling seemed to be one of their main ways of communicating.

The driver called from the limousine, “Sir? Graduation will be starting in 40 minutes.”

“Right! Of Course. Well, if you could excuse me, I will be off. Have a wonderful day.” He waved them goodbye and watched them both giggle again for the fourth time as they ran down the sidewalk into a nearby store. Jason turned around to Reyna, only to find that she had already left him on the sidewalk and was now sitting in the limousine waiting for him.

As he walked to the car, he couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed that Reyna and his moment was interrupted by a couple of fans. Not that he had any feelings for her or… well, he wasn’t quite sure about Reyna in general. One minute, she ignored him and the next, they were having some kind of connection as if it was only them in the world. As cheesy, as that seemed, that’s how it felt.  
Whoa, Jason, you’ve got a graduation speech to worry about. Focus! 

He opened the door and got into the car.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jupiter Academy was the most well-known Roman school in Olympus. It was, by far, the most prestigious and exclusive boarding school in the country. In order to get into the school, one must have Roman descent, take an Academics test, have some kind of talent, and most importantly, have a letter of recommendation. Jason, of course, after being chosen to become a Roman and follow in Lupa’s teachings, was ecstatic as he would become the first roman in his family to go to the Jupiter Academy. It also helped that he was the praetor’s son, as he did not have any Roman descent other than himself, so Lupa ignored that part of the requirement.

Today, as he looked ahead, beautiful chaos was everywhere. The outside courtyard that was usually an area for seniors to eat and hang out during break, was filled with rows of seats and a big platform with a stand that imprinted the logo of Jupiter Academy: SPQR, meaning Senatus Populusque Romanus. In other words: the Senate and People of Rome. A bit of a mouthful for Jason, but he was proud to wear his purple suit and gold tie, showing school spirit for the last time, since today was his graduation and there was a possibility of going Greek.  
Everyone was dressed to impress in the perspective of someone who has probably never been to Jupiter, or a random onlooker; but for someone like Jason, who spent a lifetime surrounded by upper class Romans, this was casual attire.

Flowers in purple, yellow and white filled the courtyard and gave off a cheery atmosphere. Even the water fountains that had statute nymphs and fauns were spewing out purple and gold dyed water. Younger kids who had come to see their older siblings graduate were tossing aureus into the fountain with glee and laughter, chasing and weaving through crowds of people in a game of Catch the Venti.  
As he looked at the children, hair flying, smiles wide open; he felt a flair of jealousy escape him. How could they be so… so carefree, so stress free, delighted, and so focused on a silly game of Catch the Venti? He had only played Catch the Venti once with Thalia and some of her friends when he was younger, but was stopped by Lupa half way through the game to finish his studies of Latin III with Reyna.  
He shoved his hands in his pant pockets and found a piece of paper---he sighed with nervousness---his graduation speech. Just as he was about to take it out and review it, he heard a loud yell from across the courtyard.

“Yo, Jason!” Bobby called out, his hands cupped around his mouth from across the courtyard. Jason turned around, seeing him, and started making his way over to him with a grin, completely forgetting about his speech or the game of catch the venti. “Hey man, what’s up?”

He was within 5 feet of Bobby when he saw a flash of long sliver blonde straight hair, leaf-green eyes, pale skin, and a crazy smile jump him in a hug. Jason let out a laugh as he held the light-weight body in an embrace for a second before putting her down.

“Gwen! You made it!” Bobby said as he gave Jason a hug and faced her.

She stopped looking at Jason with a look of excitement and rolled her eyes at Bobby. “Of course I made it! Who would want to miss their graduation?” She paused what she was about to say and took a glass of wine from a waiter, as did Bobby. 

When offered wine, Jason declined and took water instead. He definitely wanted to be sober during his speech. 

After clinking their drinks in celebration, Bobby and Jason took a sip, while Gwen, in shocking surprise to him, gulped down half her glass. Worried, Bobby cautiously took the glass away from Gwen before she could have the rest. Not caring, she exclaimed excitingly, with arms flying up, “Guys, can you believe we’re graduating! We’re finally living our lives! Gods, I’m so sick of this prison.” She laughed and swayed to the music that filled the courtyard.

Amusement filled Jason’s face as he watched Gwen. “A bit drunk, don’t you think?”

Cautiously, Bobby held onto Gwen’s hand and stopped her from swaying. Curiosity filled his voice, “Yeah, how many drinks have you had?”

She snorted, which was very strange of her, considering she was very lady-like on a regular basis. “Oh, Jason, Bobby, don’t be a Graceus! We’re young! Live a little. Besides, it was only a couple of drinks!” Then she sweetly kissed Bobby on the cheek and he flustered, losing himself, completely dumbstruck. Quickly, but gracefully, as if she was never drunk, Gwen swapped the glass out of Bobby’s other hand, with laughter escaping her mouth. She did a quick dance around the two boys before wrapping her arm sloppily around Jason’s waist, taking a sip of the wine.

Bobby, looking disgruntled and annoyed with himself, sighed deeply. “Every time, man. Every time. And yet, she still gets me.”

Jason smiled sadly at Bobby. “When will you learn that Gwen is unstoppable when she’s drunk?”

Before Bobby could answer, Gwen let out a squeal and waved her hands, calling out to someone. She said her quick goodbyes to the both of the them, before dashing across the courtyard to hug another one of her friends.

“Quite the social butterfly, huh?” Bobby said, distractedly, watching Gwen from a distance.

Jason cracked a smile at his friend and said, “That, my friend, is an understatement.”

They both laughed as they surveyed the crowds of people in the courtyard until Bobby spoke up, nodding his head at a certain skinny, blonde haired, blue eyed boy with pale skin. Both boys watched as Octavian and Reyna were getting into a heated discussion. Reyna seemed calm, but her body language showed something else. She looked impatient and annoyed, with her eyes twitching, foot tapping, and arms crossed tightly in front of her chest. She looked fearless. Something he did not want to stumble upon. But apparently, Octavian had the nerve. He was pink in the face and his arms waved dramatically as if trying to make a point.

“Heard anything about Octavian, lately?” Bobby said, as he took another sip of his wine. Jason turned his head back to Bobby and suspiciously looked at him.

The only rumor he had heard recently about Octavian was that he was supposedly found cutting plush animal toys in his dorm, hanging them around as if he was making an alter. Other than that, Jason assumed he knew just about as much as everyone else knew about Octavian. You know, the usual: that he was bratty, annoying, power-hungry, a bit too ambitious for his own good, and vice president of the Jupiter Academy student body (that he blackmailed most of the student body to vote for him); a rank below Jason and Reyna, who were co-presidents.

He looked a little curious and responded, “No, why?”

“Well, people are saying he’s going more insane and crazy than usual. And I’m not talking about his usual ‘tearing apart stuffed animals’ crazy. People say he’s leaving his dorm 1, 2 or 3 in the morning, dressed in strange clothing and when he comes back to his dorm in the mornings, his eyes get a bit crazed and wild looking, like he just saw the unexplainable.”

A million things began racing through his head. Jason exclaimed, “Wait a second, those are just rumors! How do you know this? And besides, Octavian can’t just leave the school grounds, it’s heavily guarded.” 

“I know what you mean! I didn’t believe it at first, but then Dakota asked me if I wanted to spy on Octavian with him, and he’s right. It’s like he’s planning something big or he’s a part of something big, and it doesn’t seem like a good thing.”

“Well, what do you think it is? What’s so big, that he has to leave the school grounds in the middle of the night?”

“I don’t know, man, but you should---” Before Bobby could finish his sentence, Reyna stormed over to Jason, her eyebrows screwed in anger.

Jason changed the subject, lightly joking, “Had a nice, fun chat with Octavian?”

Reyna took a deep breath, rubbing her forehead, and grabbed Bobby’s glass of wine. She was about to take a sip, when Jason grabbed it from her. “Not so fast, Ramírez-Arellano. What happened?”

“He’s trying to blackmail me into helping him become 1st senator after I become praetor.”

Bobby outburst angrily, “ That little conniving piece of---”

Jason, not even speaking, narrowed his eyes at Octavian and began to advance towards him. While he wasn’t one for fighting unless necessary, he sure had a couple of words of advice that would scare the wits out of him, and some suggestions as to where Octavian could shove his teddy bear up.

But Reyna foresaw his actions, and lightly pushed her hands on his chest. He looked down at her calm, black eyes, framed with dark lashes, and relaxed.

Almost.

“No, Jason. We are not going to make a scene, especially at Graduation.”

As she said the last sentence, she nodded her head in the general direction of parents, who were looking curiously to see what caused their angry outburst. Jason, understanding what she meant, mouthed “later.”

Bobby spoke up, making himself known, as apparently he thought Jason and Reyna were having a little moment. “Reyna, he’s been blackmailing students for years. He’s even blackmailing Hazel Jackson, and she’s been an outcast since that incident. Enough is enough.”

Worry flooded his mind.

Hazel was someone who everyone once talked to and now who everyone avoids. She had came to Jupiter Academy as a freshman, when Jason was a sophomore, and he had noticed her instantly. Her personality just shined through: her friendliness, her bravery and athleticness, her creativity. She was popular with the guys and girls from what Jason could see. But then, somewhere along the summer of sophomore year, the incident occurred and everything for her just went downhill. Junior year came, and the endless amount of friends that had always been at her side dropped like the plague. Except for that new boyfriend of hers, which Jason didn’t like. Rumors had gone around that he was a terrible boyfriend in his past relationships. 

Jason had reached out to her, trying to be the only friend she had. But she blocked him out quickly enough, afraid the rumors everyone had said might be true and didn’t want Jason to get hurt.  
He hoped she was doing okay....

Jason looked at Bobby, sternly. “Hazel’s not an outcast.” He turned his face to Reyna. “But he’s right. Either report him or I tell Lupa.”

She narrowed her eyes in a way only a predator would do before capturing its prey. “Don’t,” All the calmness gone from her face in an instance. She looked at both boys and a low, strong, scary voice came out of her mouth. “If you two utter one word to Lupa about this, I swear to Hades I will ----”

“Children! It’s time!” Jason’s mother, Hera Grace, came towards the three, arms wide open as she hugged each one warmly, as if they were all her kids. When she got to Jason in her long, blonde hair, chocolate-brown eyes, and rose pink sundress, she lightly kissed him on the cheek and exclaimed to all of them, “The ceremony, it’s starting!”

Jason couldn’t help but wonder, if his mother knew or planned out the whole idea of him becoming Greek. If his instincts were true, how could she do that to him? Oh wait, it’s for the good of the country, he thought dutifully and a bit sarcastically.

Jason looked up to see that everyone was making their way to the seats in the courtyards and Lupa was now taking her place behind the stand on the platform with other teachers and officials of Jupiter Academy.

Bobby whispered in Jason’s ear, with a sigh of relief, “Thank gods, your mother came in time. I thought Reyna was going to bite our heads off.”

Jason gave him a knowing glance, nodding quickly to agree and whispered, “Please, she’s got two dogs to do that for her. You should see her when she’s really mad. You’d pee in your pants.”

Bobby laughed silently before following Reyna and Hera, “And don’t you forget it.”

Hera, guided all three of them to their seats and wished Reyna and him good luck on their speeches. Reyna took a deep sigh beside him and began to study her notecards, but as time flew by, Jason wasn’t focused on either his speech or anyone else’s speech.

He looked down 6 seats to the left of him, a row back and found Octavian staring eagerly at Lupa giving her speech, as if she was about to give him a Nobel Prize. Jason had a clearer view of him than he did before and noticed that his hair was spiked crazily, which was very unlike and unprofessional of him. And, his eyes did seem to give off a sense of a wild look. His thoughts directed at Octavian, What’s so important that you even start blackmailing Reyna, nobody does that… What are you doing at night?

Answers filled his head, but known of them made sense. He heard something move beside him, and before he knew it, Reyna had finished her speech and he was now walking up to the platform.  
He gave the crowd a perfect politician smile and began his speech with a sense of understanding at how everyone was feeling: nervous, excited, happy, overwhelmed, accomplished, ready to start their lives…

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“So Original, Jason! I’m so proud of you.”

“Congratulations, my boy!” Jason felt a sharp pat on his back and turned around to see his happy father in a navy pinstriped suit with a red tie and his black hair and beard with striking blue eyes. Joined with him was his mother, who was looking at him proudly, hands clasped together, chin resting on top of them and a closed smile on her face.  
Unsure of what to say, since Jason wasn’t very fond of his parents ‘too proud’ look as if he was perfect, he spotted Thalia, his older sister walking awkwardly in her high heels and a dress.  
He said a quick thank you to his parents, before calling her. “Thalia, over here!”

She looked at him with a smile on her face, before she almost tripped on her heels. When she regained herself, she gave him an annoyed look, “A little help here, bro.”  
Thalia, giving up praetorship… he couldn’t imagine it at first, with her bossy and confident personality. Her love for taking control of almost anything... But now, seeing her trying to walk to him in heels, when he and her both knew she would be better off in boots. Something his mother never bought her for the very reason of keeping Thalia--the girly, sensible, perfect daughter--in tact. When he really thought about it…. why was he ever surprised? 

It all made sense.

The life she was forced to live, the life she couldn’t live, the life she would never live, were like those heels. Something that masked her completely, each step close to slipping through the cracks so quickly, her ankles ready to break. To break from her identity? Her freedom? He guessed it was only a matter of time before she bursted.

But that didn’t stop him from feeling a little mad for dumping her problems on him.

Unfortunately, Jason had a natural knack for that, taking people’s problems and carrying them on his back, along with his own.

After helping her towards their parents, he looked up to see his once loving mother give Thalia a look of annoyance and pity.“Fix your posture, Thalia. You’re embarrassing us.”

She gave a lazy laugh at Hera, before dramatically mimicking her in the posture his mother had and said, “Of course, your highness.”

Jason’s mother’s eyes glazed over with power and directed her face at Thalia with a low voice, as if she didn’t want onlookers to notice, “Don’t you dare use that tone with me, young lady.”

Not backing down at all, his fearless sister looked his mother straight in the eye with a closed smile and breathed sweetly but dangerously, “Me? Why, I would never use such a tone with you, Mother.”

Thalia had hit Hera right in the heart, and she knew that perfectly well. Jason backed slowly away from them as he saw the two women in front of him were about to combust. He definitely did not want to be in the middle of that.

But, before they caused a scene, his father, Zeus, slipped his hand around his mother’s waist and moved her forward towards the limousine that was parked at the entrance of the school. “Honey, look! I think the reporters have come to interview us again. We should be off.”

As his parents walked ahead of them, Thalia slipped her hand around Jason’s arm and said with a proud smile, “Aw, my little baby brother is growing up! You can finally hang out with the big kids!”

Jason feeling a little guilty, defended his mother. “You should be a little nicer to Mother, you know.”

Thalia detached her hand from his arm and huffed, crossing her arms around her chest, stubbornly. “News flash, Jace. That woman is not my mother. She’s my step-mom. Need I remind you again, ours died in a car crash.” She looked at him coldly, as if waiting for him to defend Hera again. “And gods look at me! That step-mother of mine, forced me into a dress!” She looked down at her yellow flowing dress with her long straight black hair framing her pale freckled face, that was at the moment screwed in a disgusted/repulsed look. “What the hell did she think I was? A stupid fairy!”  
Jason sighed, “Alright, I know, I get it. Let’s just go.” They walked past all the reporters who were taking pictures and calling their names for a quick interview and sat in the limousine, waiting for their father and his mother to be finished with their interview about foreign affairs.

As they sat in the car, Thalia placed a hand on his and squeezed it. He looked up and saw her electric blue eyes, the same eyes that had been passed down through the Grace Family for generations, scrunch up with worry. She only did that for one person: him. As far as he knew, anyway.“I’m sorry, Jason. That was uncalled for.” But then her face wrinkled and she exasperated annoyingly. “But, gods, that woman! She’s just so… so infuriating!”

Jason laughed at her outburst, “Yeah, you’re not exactly her favorite, are you?”

Before she could say anything, his parents came into the limousine, with his father checking his phone before greeting them. His mother, Hera waved to some of the reporters with her award winning beauty pageant smile before turning around and giving Thalia a disgruntled look. Thalia gladly returned it and turned her face towards dad, starting a conversation.

Jason wondered how everyone always managed to never get a glimpse of their ‘perfect family’ becoming the worst family. Maybe it was because; he seemed to be the perfect child in the public’s eye. Or maybe it was because his father, Zeus had hired his own camera crew to take pictures and videos of what Zeus thought would be best to show to the public for his job as Praetor. Or maybe it was just his mother, Hera, who was outstandingly talented in the art of being fake and presenting the public with the perfect lifestyle and the perfect family and the perfect house.  
Jason was sick of it, but he was born into it and he had to deal with it. 

He took a quick glance to see his father still on his phone answering emails to his senators and his mother and sister glaring at opposite seats from each other in the car. Jason couldn’t help but sarcastically think, Yup, what a perfect family.

Up Next: Hazel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up Next: Hazel


	3. Welcome to the Underworld Cafe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hazel's POV

Hazel sat bolt upright and fought back a painful sob, as her breathing deepened and took on a ragged, shallow noise. Her lips trembled, sucking in as much air as she could muster. She was drenched in sweat and tears, lying on her bed as her shaky hand clutched her necklace, as if it was her life saver. She felt her body shudder for the fifth time! It felt so real… Everything about it, his cry for help, the water, the drowning… so real and yet so… overplayed? Annoying? Frightening?

Gods, she was sick of it. This whole mess she put herself through. The crying, his face, the nightmare… She wasn’t proud of it. Not at all.

She felt another wave of miserable crying come over her; but being who she was, she took her pillow, bit down hard and screamed, cursing at her pathetic self.

It’s been a year, Hazel! She thought angrily. And look at you, still waking up at… she looked at her alarm clock, 1:47 AM; 2, 3, whatever in the morning! He’s dead! Gone! When will your mind just forget him?  
She peeled the already messy covers away from her body and took a deep breath. Hazel went to her bathroom, taking the: I’m-going-to-wash-away-that-nightmare shower she knew all too well. As she washed her body and hair, an image of something dragging a brown haired boy into the black lake flashed through her head. She thought sorrowfully, Oh, I’m so sorry. She shook her head unwillingly, trying to get that image of her recurring scene out of her head.

Once finished, she put her wet curls in a high ponytail and rummaged through her closet, putting on her jeans, boots and her Jupiter Academy sweatshirt. She grabbed her phone, house key, money and a pair of scissors, putting them in her backpack and opened her window that faced the street. 

She needed to get out. 

Hazel felt the summer breeze on her face and let out a sigh. She placed her foot on the tree branch below her. Then with her other foot on the branch, completely letting go of the bedroom window and steadily balancing herself, she walked towards the tree house, head high and arms parallel to her shoulders. Sucking in her breath, she didn’t dare look down. Her fear would cripple her determination.

Gods, you’d think after years of doing this...

She sighed again with relief this time, after reaching the tree house and climbed down the ladder till she touched the solid, beautiful ground below her. She always liked the ground; it was dependable, sturdy and strong. Something she could always rely on. And as always, her brother was the exact opposite. Sometimes she wondered if he was born from the sea. His fascination with water always seemed to surprise her.  
As she walked across her front lawn, she spotted tulips and daisies, growing around her mailbox. Hazel silently apologized to her mom and cut some of the flowers with the scissors she had.

She set off onto the deserted street following the direction of the moon and considered her choices. She knew where she wanted to go first, but where to afterwards? She could ask if Bobby wanted to hang out, but after what he did to her yesterday... yeah, never mind. 

OlympMc-Donalds? She pondered.

She could get ice cream and it was 24/7, right?

Perfect!

She started to hum an american song He loved to sing to her, as she made a right turn down the sidewalk towards the cemetery.

Before his death, she used to drive down the street that overlooked the cemetery, and never consider that she would ever have to visit it. At least, until her parents died. But that would be for decades later.  
But she was wrong.

Hazel remembered the first time entering the cemetery, dressed in a black dress, surrounded by people mourning over that boy. That amazing, sweet, handsome boy… She remembered, her 15 year old self, gripping Percy’s hand a year ago as she watched his casket being lowered into his grave. She didn’t cry, just frozen in denial and shock that her best friend was dead. But now, she wish she did. Maybe if she had cried, the nightmares of his death and the constant panic when she was engulfed in water would have stopped and maybe she would have felt at peace.

She climbed, then hopping over the locked gate of the cemetery with grace and practice, as she had been doing for so long. She walked 10 rows back and 7 tombstones to the left and found him.  
Well, his grave.

Hazel read the words of his tombstone out loud, as she always did, to announce her presence. “Here lies, Samuel Valdez. Rest in Peace. 1996-2012.” It was short, because Sammy didn’t have any family members, and lived at the Olympus Orphanage. But if it was up to Hazel, she would have written a book on how amazing Sammy was.

She sat down in front of the grave and placed the flowers she’d cut against the tombstone. She gave a watery smile. “Hey, Sammy. I missed you.” Hazel felt tears threatening and succeeding to flow down her face. She wiped them, blaming her stupid period for being so emotional. Pull yourself together, Jackson!, she chided.

She joked a little sarcastically to his gravestone as she noticed a couple of webs and bugs attached, waiting for their deaths, “They sure keep your tomb in pristine condition.”

Hazel removed the webs with a stick nearby and muttered with frustration on how stupid it was that nobody cleaned the tombs daily.

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and looked at the word: Samuel. “You know, I still haven’t learned how to swi—”

“Talking to yourself. A bit weird, don’t you think?” A deep voice interrupted from the dark.

Hazel jerked up from her bent position of cleaning the webs and whipped her head in different directions, trying to figure out where the voice was coming from. She grabbed the scissors out of her bag and pointed it threateningly at any sign of moment, ready to attack if needed.

She heard a low, throaty laugh, coming from the east side of the cemetery. Definitely a man… or boy? Gods, she wished she had told Percy or Hank where she was. He could be a rapist for all she knew!

“I’ve got a weapon!” she shouted fiercely towards that area, still not sure where the man was, “And I’m definitely not afraid to rip you apart!”

Hazel spotted a man drop from a tree branch of a tree to the floor about 20ft away from her. As she tensed and took a step backward, he casually leaned his body against the tree trunk.

“Yeah, with a pair of scissor? I don’t think so.”

Still having her scissors pointing threateningly at the man’s body, she demanded. “Who are you? What do you want?”

She couldn’t see him clearly under the shadows of the tree’s leaves or the night sky, but she saw him twirl something shiny around his finger. “Aren’t you a little young to be out here in a cemetery? What are you, 14?”

She gave him a disgusted look and said confidently, “I’m sixteen, you creeper! And don’t change the subject! Why are you stalking me?” She pointed her scissors at his crotch, just in case he tried any funny business. Hazel caught his eyes making the connection and saw his hands go up in surrender.

“Alright! Alright! Calm down. I’m the cemetery caretaker… Still don’t believe me?” He took a step away from the shadow and tree and into the light. Hazel took a step back in shock. He was a…

A boy? Well, a teen, really. She squinted her eyes. No, an older teen. 

He was dressed in black shoes, black shirt, black… everything. He had a chain dangling from the side of his dark jeans and Hazel noticed a glint of metal flashing through the dim light of a lantern near by . She took a closer look and noticed it was a black knife. But what surprised her most was he could have been mistaken as a vampire. 

Just the skin, really. It was just soo pale… but his face looked a bit Italian, handsome with a firm jaw, with his black, bed-headed hair, black eyes of a mad scientist and a tall, slim figure. He was pretty extreme compared to the average person. But something about him made her wonder how this guy came to be the way he was.

He looked like the kind of guy you didn’t want to mess with. Someone a bit too powerful to handle if angered. But with the look he was giving her, she felt the exact opposite...

He walked towards her, and Hazel took several steps back quickly. After noticing, the teen gave a confused look.

“Give me your knife.” She demanded.

“You won’t try to stab me, will you?”

“Only, if provoked.”

He rolled his eyes and unhooked his knife from his belt loop. “Fine.” He tossed his knife in front of her feet. She picked it up and he walked towards Hazel, taking out his wallet from his back pocket. As he rummaged for his…cemetery caretaker license? 

Strange job, she noted.

She saw a glimpse of a picture: a girl with olive skin, long black hair, the same crazy eyes and a splash of freckles over her cheeks and nose. She had a small smile. Hazel wanted to comment on her, but he flipped the flap of the wallet too quickly for her to focus on it too much.

Although, one thing that stuck with her mind was his money. In his wallet was a huge wad of cash. Not even a single one dollar bill, but about twenty 100 dollar bills and a couple of 50 dollar bills.

What was a teen like him, doing with all that money, much less as a cemetery caretaker?

Before Hazel could start forming ideas, he took out his card license for being cemetery caretaker. “Only started the job about a month ago, so I’m not a creeper. I actually have a life.”

Hazel was about to comment on the money in his wallet, when rain started to drizzle from the sky. And then, as if straight out of a movie, it began to pour. She stomped her foot in frustration. She would have to run home in the pouring rain for about 20 minutes.

The teen started to take off his aviator jacket. Hazel took a step back and placed a hand above her face, so that she could see through the rain. Suspiciously, she asked, “What are you doing?”

“Listen, I know a café we can stay at, until the rain clears.”

“Why should I trust you?”

He rolled his eyes again but gave her a curious glance before looking off into the distance, hiding the look his face might betray. She could tell he was slightly nervous by the way his body moved. Why he was nervous, Hazel had no clue. The teen hovered his jacket above Hazel, letting himself get soaked and shouted through the pouring rain, “Unless you want to be soaked and standing here in the rain, I suggest you follow me.”

She couldn’t decide if it was the distant but pleading look his eyes gave off, or the fact that this guy looked very familiar, or even the fact that his shaggy black mess of a hair was plastered to his head from the rain, covering parts of his eyes, while she stayed completely dry under the safety of his jacket.

But nonetheless, she trusted him. Not fully, of course (that would be stupid), but enough to know that it would only take her exactly three seconds to follow him.

Without a word, Hazel latched onto the hand he offered and ran out of the cemetery, looking back at Sammy’s grave one last time, wondering when she had become crazy enough to follow a stranger to a place she didn’t know.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

The rain was becoming ridiculous.

It was pouring so intensely that each raindrop would smash to the ground and burst upward so hard that it would splash her face.

They had been running for about 10 minutes, cutting through alleys and streets, when he finally slowed down in front of the Olympus Library.

Hazel, confused and drenched from head to toe, asked “Why are we at the library? It’s closed!”

He ignored her, and dragged her behind the library, down a flight of stairs. They stood in front of a door and Hazel began to wonder if there really was a café, much less a basement under the Library.Though, if she was being completely honest, she didn’t care anymore. A lot could happen between two strangers, when holding hands, drenched in water for 10 minutes, trying to look for cover and a place to rest. And if a person was tired. Did she mention tired, because she was tired. 

Very tired. 

As of this moment, she was putting her life in this guy's hands. A bit dramatic, but true.

Just as she was about to open her mouth and say something, he put a finger to his mouth, silencing her. He knocked on the door in a series of specific rhythms and finished the code with a clap like some secret message. Hazel gave him a bizarre look and began to reconsider just whose hands she was putting her life into.

Suddenly, the door opened and a woman, dressed as a waitress gave them a sweet smile, reciting her lines, “Welcome to the Underworld Café! How many will there be tonight?”

Hazel let out a shocked gasp, as the teen dragged her through the door. The room was a … café.

Just like the waitress and the boy had said! 

The smell of coffee and pastries stuffed her senses with smells only the heavens could produce. The booths, tables, the area in the far back with couches and the fireplace had such a homey feel that she thought it was a breakfast in bed inn for a second. It was deserted at the moment, but felt like the house of a grandmother in some fairy tale, despite the name of the cafe. There was even a mini stage with a full set of drums, guitars, piano and microphones! She looked to the side of the diner bar table and saw a sign: OPEN 24/7! The Best Meals in Hell!

This whole time---for years---Hazel had gone on field trips, studied, and read in the library. And little did she know there was a huge café, right beneath her feet!

“Uh, just us,” he replied.

“Great! Is there anything you would like?”

“Yeah, I’ll have the usual. Just make it two orders.” He looked to Hazel to see if it was okay as if she knew what his “usual” order was. But she was so amazed and shocked at everything, that she just nodded. “Uh, I guess that’s it, and can we have some towels? We’ll be sitting in those couches near the fireplace. Thanks, Betty.”

Before the waitress could reply, the boy led Hazel to the couches and plopped down spreading his hands open in front of the warm fire. Hazel smiled, plopping down beside him, “This is amazing.”

He gave her a small smile before looking back at the fire, as if trying to busy himself. The pupils of his eyes were wide, almost covering the iris. But even then, Hazel had a hard time figuring out which part of his eye was the pupil or iris. They were so dark. “My father owns the cafe; otherwise I would have never found this café on my own.”

She let out a laugh in delight, “And it’s 24 hours, 7 days a week! You’ve got to teach me that secret hand thing you did.”

He only nodded this time, but that was enough for Hazel. Curious, she opened her backpack to find her phone and money not drenched in water. She smiled victoriously. She checked the time--- 2:36 AM. Perfect, she thought. No calls from worried parents, no texts from her brother or Hank.

She was safe. Well, safe from getting in trouble at home.

She relaxed into her couch, feeling the warmth of the fire finally reach her shivering body. “Look, I know we got off on the wrong foot. Redo?”

He gave her a look, as if it was an understatement. Hazel fanned her face, remembering her outburst at the cemetery.

“Okay, maybe I got us off on the wrong foot. But, hey, having a guy sneak up on you in the middle of the night is scary! Not to mention in a cemetery.” She gave him a pointed look. “Trust me, I’ve watched way too many horror films to know what the ending will be.” .

He leaned his elbows on his knees and was silent for a moment. She noticed his jawline clench. Turning his head towards her, streaks of reddish-orangish light from the fire caught onto his skin, clothes, and hair. He seemed less depressing, if that was even possible. More warm.

“You're right, that was inconsiderate of me. I’m sorry.” He looked her in the eyes. Not the quick glance he always did, or the flick of the eyes in her direction, but really looked into her eyes. He meant it, but thats not what made her believe it. It was the little door he opened just barely enough to see who he really was. It was like his eyes were years younger than his face or body. She saw a little boy, dark eyes and all.  
She almost wanted to let her guard down and hug this guy, but reminded herself she just met him.

And during all this time, Hazel felt something in the back of her head trying to push its way to the front of her mind. Had she met this guy before? Surely, she must have. He seemed so familiar...  
Just as she was about to put her hands to the fire, something dawned on her. “Hey, after all this time, I never got your name. And I know this seems strange, but have we met---”  
Suddenly he abruptly got up with a new drive, “I’m going to go get our towels and food. Be back in a sec.”

“Uh, okay...” 

He was a bit too quick, for Hazel’s liking. Did he not want her to know his name or something? She turned her head around to face the entrance of the café, spotting the guy grab the towels and food right out of Betsy’s hands in one trip.

He’s a mystery, that boy. No more than 18, a cemetery caretaker, with more than $1000 in his wallet, and she doesn’t even know his name.

When he got to their table, he tossed the towel to her and she murmured a “Thanks”, wrapping herself in it and said, “You know, you don’t have to pay for the food, I’ve got money.”

“It’s fine, I’ve got money too.” He passed her a cup of warm hot chocolate and a plate of chocolate cake.

“Don’t you think that’s a bit of an understatement?”

He raise his eyebrows. “Oh?” The teen looked at her with a sense of newfound realization. “You’re very observant.”

“What’s a boy like you, who works at cemetery, carrying all that money for?”

“And very curious. Plus, I’ll have you know I’m a man. I’m seventeen. Legal enough to drink in Olympus .”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t change the subject.”

He sighed and took a bite of his cake, and then took a long sip of his hot chocolate. Hazel noticed he happened to have a skull ring with intricate designs on his wedding finger. Was he already married? 

She shifted her body, facing him. “Well?”

“Have you tried the cake? Delicious, right?”

“Are you this mysterious and vague with everyone?”

He gave Hazel a shrug and took another bite of his cake. His voice sounding very on edge, as he used his hands to form his next question. “Do you always ask this many questions with everyone?”

Frustrated with an extra dose of annoyance, Hazel got up from her couch. He looked up at her, subtle panic escaping his voice. “Where are you going?”

“To the bathroom, do you know where it is?” The teen pointed her the way and Hazel began to walk, needing to clear her mind.  
“Wait!” 

She stopped and turned to look at him, noticing that there was a chocolate cake crumbles on his chin, “Yeah?”

“What’s your name?” Hazel was about to burst with anger and point out what a hypocrite he was, but instead she took a deep breath, treating him the way she would want to be treated.

“Hazel.”

His lips curled into a satisfied side smile before turning away from her, repeating the name to himself.

What a strange night, she thought. She turned on her heel and headed for the bathroom.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

He was gone.

Just like that. Hazel couldn’t believe it. She was only in the bathroom for about 3 minutes, trying to collect herself and wonder why in tartarus did she follow him.

When she came out of the bathroom, she found an empty couch right next to a vacant hot chocolate and cake still steamy from its freshness.

Just after finally calming down, she felt like she was going to burst again!

She was mad and disappointed and frustrated and …

She never got his name!

Hazel stormed over to the table to find a hundred dollar bill under the hot chocolate mug.

She huffed a sigh, of course.

She plopped down on the couch again and brewed in silent displeasure. Hazel took a quick peek at her backpack to find that there was a note taped to the side of it. Curious, she quickly took it and unfolded it.

In a surprisingly, beautiful cursive, the note said:

Hazel,  
Sorry I was never able to say goodbye in person. There was an emergency, and I had to go. I hope the money I left will be enough. Keep the change, I don’t need it. See you soon.

See you soon?

Her face twisted in confusion. When would she see him again? She didn’t know anything about this guy. She didn’t have his number either. Much less the next time she’ll meet up with him.

She flipped over the note to find that he left instructions from the café to her house.

She smiled a little, At least he left a note. That was nice of him.

Hazel went up to the cashier and paid for the food and drinks and left a tip on the table. She grabbed her backpack and the note, and headed outside to a clean misty very early morning.

Hazel checked her phone; 3:34pm. Good, she still had time to make it back home.

She took out the paper from her pocket and unfolded it again. Hazel noted that instructions on the back was a little messy compared to the note he wrote her on the front.

I wonder what the emergency was…

Hazel began to walk in the direction of what mystery teen wrote, when she froze completely. Her eyes widened in utter disbelief, her muscles tightened in realization and her eyebrows were lifted so high, she felt like she had a bad case of botox. She was speechless in disturbing wonder. She took a hard look at the paper and read it through twice. Three times, for clarity.

How the hell did he know where she lived?

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

On her way home, Hazel was so paranoid, she almost killed a bunny with her scissors, because she saw something moving in the bushes. Thank the gods, she only missed by a foot.

She kept looking from side to side, front to back ready to attack like a lion. Hazel kept buzzing with theories on how that stalker knew where she lived. She was scared completely out of her wits. He must have planned this all along. And the cemetery caretaker license! It must have been fake!

Ugh, and she trusted him enough to hold his hand!

She felt violated, completely and utterly violated!

Her mind flashed back to the paper, and she flipped over the instructions she was following to the note he wrote. She read the last words out loud in an indescribable tone.

“See you soon.”

Oh, she’d see him soon. And when she finds him, she will squeeze out all the information he found on her and where he got it from.

Gods, that boy probably got it from that annoying roman, rich boy, Octavian.

Before she could think anything else, Hazel spotted her house and ran straight for it. She started to climb the ladder to the tree house, when she paused. She climbed back down and ran around the outskirts of her house, checking that all the windows and doors were locked completely.

She sighed with relief and climbed up the tree house into the window of her room, and locked the window before closing the curtains. When she finally got into her room, she sat on the floor tired and exhausted. But, Hazel was definitely not tired enough to sleep. After everything that happened in the past couple of hours, sleeping was not on her to-do list. She checked the time again and read that it was already 4:00am!  
Oh gods, she thought, We’re leaving for the Argo in 3 hours!

She striped her clothes and shoes and wore an old oversized t-shirt that was her brother’s and some athletic shorts. She turned on one of her lamp lights and began to pace her room trying to piece together the series of random events that just occurred. It was like trying to piece together pieces of a puzzle when someone just ruined it beforehand. 

Suddenly, she stopped in front of her full-length mirror and looked at herself. It was not so much her appearance that caused her to keep staring, but it was more so the bruises that trailed her arm. Bright red against her rich skin. In all honesty, she was a bit surprised how much it showed up. Trying to take her mind off of everything, she decided fixing them was a good distraction from her recent events.

She sighed sadly and headed to her bathroom to grab her makeup to cover them up. The whole time---applying the makeup she only used for situations like the bruises---she knew he would have never meant to do it. It just accidently happened… He was mad and angry at his father. Who could blame him? Everyone has to blow off steam every once in a while… Besides, she loved him. He had been so good to her after Sammy’s death. He came to her aid, when her social life filled with friends came crumbling down to dust. It was as if suddenly all of her roman friends at school didn’t find her as interesting when her mental state was ruined by her best friend’s death. Besides, Hank’s love for her goes farther than anger will ever go.

After she was done covering up the bruises, she couldn’t help but find her hand unconsciously travel up to her necklace and latch on. She looked at the mirror and saw her gold diamond necklace twinkling in the middle of her dark-skinned collarbones and neck.

The only thing her biological parents left with her when they left her on the doorsteps of the Jackson family’s house, her home now.

Hazel’s mind began to wonder just who exactly were her biological parents. They definitely couldn’t have been poor if they could afford this necklace. She’d always been curious, if she resembled her father or her mother more. But even though she had always been curious, she never voiced them out to her adopted family. She loved them more than she loved herself. In her eyes, they were her only parents and her only brother.

But, it would be nice to at least know their names…

Hazel began to flip the diamond up and down and twirl it side to side, absentmindedly; when she noticed something strange. In surprise, she took her necklace off and looked at the back of the necklace.  
Right there, imprinted on the back of her diamond necklace was a skull with intricate designs…

It looked so familiar...

And right below the skull were the Greek words:

ο πλούσιος

Hazel was shocked. After 16 years of wearing this necklace, she now just happened to realize there was a skull and a message on the back of the diamond.

The only problem was, she didn’t know Greek. Since, she was raised Roman, she knew Latin.

She could ask Percy…but she would feel guilty, asking for help on finding her real parents. 

Instead, she put down the necklace on her desk and quietly opened her bedroom door. She made a right and crept towards Percy’s room soundlessly. Hazel opened his blue door to find him half-way off his bed in aquaman pajama pants completely passed out, while snoring and drooling.

Hazel almost busted out laughing, but accidently stepped on a squeaky dog toy.

Percy was definitely not Sleeping Beauty.

She jerked upright from her crouched position to find Percy simply mumble something insignificant and turn around in his bed. She sighed, before picking up their dog, Mrs. O’Leary’s toy and tossing it to the side. Hazel tip-toed over to his couch to find his laptop laying on the table in front of his TV. She picked it up smoothly and dashed out of his room, stopping to pull the blankets over him and laugh at the drool creeping from his open mouth.

Once Hazel got back to her room, she ran over to her desk and chair and turned on the laptop. She was excited and nervous and instantly awake with this newfound information. She smiled triumphantly, glad she had finally found a clue to who her real parents were.

She clicked the search engine and typed in the words.

And….

Of course the internet connection was low. Of course.

She dropped her forehead on the table and made an irritated groan.

“Why me? Why?”

While waiting for the connection to get better, she started to get ready for her family’s 2 month long trip to the Argo that she dreaded completely. Each time, after bustling around her room doing one thing after the other, she kept glancing hopefully at the screen. But instead, she just got the loading circle going in the same cycle continuously.

Worst timing ever, Hazel huffed, before adding her toothbrush and toothpaste to her bag.

She pulled back her curtains and noticed that the sun was already out and the birds were chirping. She opened her window and looked out on both sides of the street, seeing if she could spot that boy anywhere. No luck.

Hazel then heard a whistle come from the laptop and dashed over to sit in front of it. She silently smiled in determination as the connection was finally on.

She reloaded the search engine to Google Translate and typed in the Greek words getting this:

The Rich One

She stared at the screen and laid back in her chair trying to figure out what that meant. After about a minute, she searched the words on Google and included the location Olympus, to find dozens of articles about the richest man, government, political candidates, death, forbes etc. But the article that caught Hazel’s eye was on the 7rd page and the 5th result called: The Lost Child.

Unsure and hesitant, Hazel hovered her mouse over the article. She bit her lip, asking, Do you really need to know this, Hazel?

She shook her head in disbelief of herself. Of course she needed to know this! Suck it up, Hazel and just do it!

She shut her eyes closed, almost as if she was wishing for something on a birthday cake and clicked it.

Please let it be something important!

A sharp thud of a knock on her door jumped Hazel by surprise, causing her to quickly exit out of the site and turn off the computer as if on instinct. Barking echoed through the door, along with a quiet shh from someone.

“Hello? Hazel?”

She frantically closed the laptop and latched the necklace back around her necklace and turned around in her chair to face the door.

“Come in!” she said, her voice slightly off tune.

Bounding towards Hazel, in its giant furriness, Mrs. O’Leary nearly toppled her off her chair. The resident Jackson family dog, a tibetan mastiff licked her arms, as Hazel lets out a squeal. 

“Alright, girl. Come on.” Hazel spotted a toy on the ground and threw it out of her room. Instantly, Mrs. O’Leary chased it, with her tail wagging contently as she zoomed out of the room.

Her brother, Percy in his shorts and Greek school orange t-shirt walked into her room with his usual black swept hair, quickly closing the door before the dog could come back in. “Hey.” He smiled at her with his hands behind his back holding something.

She gave a quizzical stare. “What’s up?”

“Just wanted to make sure you’re up. We’re heading to the Argo today.”

“Well, I’m up.” The short and quickness in her reply, unveiled something else that the two of them already knew.

His tall figure leaned against her door frame and he gave a big sigh.

“So, remember on Friday during dinner, you gave me that look of betrayal that Ariel gives to Eric when he chooses to marry Vanessa instead and then stormed out of the room?”

If this was another situation Hazel would have laughed, but the silent anger still brewed a bit, causing her to merely nod in displeasure as if to say: Really? Is that all you got?.

Ever since they were kids, Hazel and Percy had been obsessed with Disney. They had every Disney film ever made, DVD and VCR on Display in their Game Room. They had CDs in the car to soundtracks of their favorite films and they even had autographs of when they were younger of going to Disneyland and Disneyworld of all the dressed-up Disney characters. Of course, Percy would never utter a word of this to his friends. In fact, he warned Hazel that this was their little secret, or else. 

Now that Hazel thought about it, obsessed seemed a bit like an understatement.

It had been an ongoing joke through the years between the two, to talk about something they did or said to each other and use a reference from a Disney movie.

Normally it would lift her spirits up instantly, but she really did feel betrayed.

They had a plan! A vow! Ever since, their father made them go to a Winter Solstice when they were 12 and 14, they vowed they would come up with every excuse to skip them. They were boring, tedious, and filled with snobby people who thought they were better than everyone.

And Percy broke it.

“It wasn’t that dramatic, Percy. But, yeah, I remember.”

“Oh, come on! I’ve been working on that joke for two days now!”

Hazel got up, ignoring him and grabbed a bottle of lotion to stuff in her luggage.

He gave a disappointed smile, probably for the lack of response to the disney joke he said. “I know you didn’t want to go, but you knew we’d have to go the Summer Solstice sooner or later.We can’t avoid it forever.”

“I know.” Somehow, admitting it out loud, made her feel even more defeated. And suddenly, she deflated in posture, like a full, round balloon slowly dissolving into a pathetic thin layer of rubber. She couldn’t tell if the lack of sleep from last night, or her worry of 2 months of seasickness on a ship took a bigger toll on her emotions right now.

But then she imagined a MONTH at sea, and her anger inflated again. Oh, how many times will she throw up? Just the the question itself, made her nauseous. Her posture returned and she gave a glare. “But, that still doesn’t change the fact that you broke our vow.”

“Which one?”

Hazel didn’t answer. Instead, she folded her arms. Sure, they made a lot of vows, but this vow fitted the conversation easily.

“Oh!” Percy gave look of discomfort.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing it's just… the only reason I said yes was because this was my big chance.”

Hazel scrunch her eyebrows together. “What do you mean?”

Percy shifted again, his hands still awkwardly hiding something behind himself. “This was my chance to learn a few things, when I take over the company. Dad said it himself, I’ll be the head of it as soon as I graduate High School. And now…. Now I just did. I figured, I should make connections, brainstorm new ideas on how to advance our shipping of imports and exports. Maybe even… Maybe even sit in on one of the Adult Business Meetings.”

He shuttered. As if the thought itself, was a nightmare he had to face.

Hazel’s anger slowly but surely decreased into nothing.

“Listen: I’m sorry, Hazel. I know it's going to suck, with your seasickness and all. But I’m here for you.”

Before Hazel could say anything, Percy gave a lopsided smile.

“Besides, I couldn’t bear the thought of my baby sister hating my presence, so I got your favorite.”

He pulled out his hands from behind his back and gave her a white Styrofoam to-go box. Hazel opened it and bursted in delight.

“Percy! I can’t believe you got me Shrimp Gumbo! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!” She hurriedly placed her favorite comfort food on her desk and gave him a hug. “That’s a 45 minute drive from here to that restaurant!”

Percy just mumbled through her mass of hair and kissed her on the head. “You’d do the same for me.”

The depressed emptiness she had from her nightmare, troubles and worries left for a little while and filled up with warmth and love.

She gave him a bright smile. “True.”

“I’m sorry, Hazel.”

“Apology accepted.”

Percy’s eyes traveled the room and landed on his laptop on her desk. His green in his eyes flashed with recognition. “Oh! I thought I lost it. Do you mind if I pack it? I’m going to use it on the way to the ship.”

Hazel’s heart sunk a little, as she just remembered she deleted the article on the lost child. But she faked a smile anyways.

“Yeah, sure, take it.”

Percy grabbed the laptop and started to head out the door but stopped and turned around. “By the way, we’re leaving in 20 minutes. Go get changed, Mom wants us down for breakfast in 10.”

“Okay.”

He gave a content smile as if his goal was completed before closing the door behind him. The sound of barking and footsteps faded down the hall.

Her smile still traced her lips until she looked at her necklace in the mirror and instantly, she felt the guilt pour all over herself.

How could she wonder about her biological family, when she had an amazing one right in front of her?

Hazel, instead pushed that thought out of her head and started putting on her clothes.

Too many emotions for one night and now she needed a break.

She let her long curly hair down and wore a yellow sundress with a long sleeved jean jacket. Hazel grabbed the last of her bags and double checked that her window was locked.

She took one last look at the mirror, eyeing her makeup covered bruises first, then her shrimp gumbo in her hand and lastly the gold diamond necklace around her neck.

An image of the words: See you soon, the café and that boy flashed through her head in a heartbeat.

Who was that guy?

Up Next: Leo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up Next: Leo


	4. OPERATION: TFRGTP

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leo's POV

God, he thought, I've never seen anything like it…

Well, unless his inventions count. But this was something entirely different.

Leo’s mouth dropped open in that pathetic, drool worthy, wide-eyed, schoolboy-looking-at-a-hot-lifeguard stare.

“Yup, I could get used to this.” He said as if this whole moment summed up the life he needed, wanted, dreamed of.

“Will you shut up?” Piper shushed from underneath the golden table, beside him. “They’ll hear you.”

She peeled the royal purple and deep orange curtains draping the golden table and took a good view at the massive, elegant, first class Argo Dining Room. To describe that it was huge was an understatement. It was massive. From their view underneath the closest table near the exit doors, they were like tiny ants viewing the most beautiful gigantic apple to ever exist. Every detail was intricately laced together from the golden statues, to the delicious pastries (making Leo’s stomach growl in frustration) displayed in the center of the room, like a buffet, to the stage for entertainment filled with various instruments and even to the waiters and chefs bustlingly around getting ready for the banquet tomorrow: the 1st day opening of the first flying cruise ship, the Argo.

He winked at her with a cocky smirk and said jokingly with a low voice, so no one could hear them.

“Man, Piper, the rooms’ almost as beautiful as me, don’t you think? I mean the ladies dig me, you totally dig me, I dig me. I'm like the freakin’ Super-sized McShizzle! I'm Leo Valdez, bad boy supreme.”

“I’m pretty sure that about half the words you said aren’t even true, Valdez. And as tempting as that sounds, I think I’m going to have to pass on the whole ‘digging’ you, Hot Shot.”

Leo looked at her in fake astonishment. “Wait a second! Did I just hear what I thought I heard? Did you just say ‘Hotshot’! Well,” he huffed a little as if it was all too much to believe or comprehend. “I never thought the day would come when Beauty Queen would start feeding my ego! I think this calls for a celebration!” 

She rolled her pretty eyes like she was accepting a challenge. “Valdez, when are you going to learn that I will seriously hurt you for every time you call me that?”

He looked at her mischievously. “Call you what?”

Piper absentmindedly glanced around the curtains that trapped them underneath the table, and then as if she thought he didn’t see her (he totally did), she aimed a punch for his neck.

Only to be blocked by Leo’s hand grabbing her wrist (thanks to his amazingly fast reflexes), while tickling her stomach. His best friend let out a squeal before closing her hand around her mouth in an attempt to smother the now soft, quiet giggles.

Piper gave a small gasp, whispering “Mercy! Mercy! I surrender!”

He put his hands up and sighed. “Gods, you don’t have to be so bossy about it, Piper.”

She gave him a full grin, the kind of grin only a brother could receive. And Leo was glad that it was meant for him.

For months leading up to the Argo’s big opening, he had been so busy repairing the cruise ship that he barely had time to stop by and see Piper’s practice performances or just ask how her day was. But he noticed, ever since they left America and got jobs in Olympus by Dylan to work on the Argo, she had been looking more depressed than ever before. But at this moment, she seemed like herself, and if he could be the funny guy she needed, he was more than happy to fill that role.

Piper looked as if she was about to say a comeback when they heard moving footsteps about ten feet away. Their eyes widened in excitement and Leo snuck a quick peek to estimate when to start OPERATION: TFRGTP (aka: Take from Rich, Give to Poor!). No one was in the room except for one waiter. Perfect.

The fewer who witness, the more real it seems.

Leo added that to his mental list of Leo’s Fantastic Prank Rules.

He looked back at Piper, giving her two thumbs up and signaled for her to phase into Part 1: Seduce the Prey. Piper gave one last crazy smile, before fixing her shirt, and gracefully leaving from underneath the golden dining table as if she hadn’t spent the last 30 minutes spying, hiding and giggling with a teenage Latino boy.

From the crack in the curtain, Leo stared, knowing what would happen. He watched as Piper started to walk that slow, seductive, hip swinging, stride of hers. He’s seen it hundreds of times; done on preteen boys, hormone craving teenaged guys, grown business men and old, smelly grandfathers. And yet after spending a year with her, seeing her burp, slurp and walk around with 3 day old messy hair: it never got old. 

He knew Piper didn’t like it or the fact that her sex-o-meter spiked up more whenever she wanted it to, but honestly, it’s not a bad thing to be that gorgeous. It got Leo and her free stuff, more importantly, free food, shelter, clothes: the necessities. And maybe, helped a little on just a couple of pranks… okay maybe A LOT of pranks…

They would always say they would stop doing pranks, but they’re not quitters.

As Leo followed the line of direction Piper was heading towards, he spotted the prey. A tall, awkward, completely freckled, big glasses guy. The kind of fictional geek a person would see in the movies. The kid grabbed a glass containing sugar and clumsily dropped it onto the floor, along with a plate with cookies on it.

Perfect, Leo smiled devilishly. First day on the job. The kid’s a nueb!

As the teen bent down, nervously picking up the pieces of the plate. Piper bent down in fake sympathy and offered help. He quickly said no, not even bothering to look up from the mess he made. Piper then, put her hand lightly on his arm and said sweetly with a smile and a gaze any guy would melt over. “Is today your first day?”

He looked up.

“Ummm, Uhh… Y-y-yeah. I mean, Yes. Today’s my first day.” He stared a little. And then stared a little more…. just a little more…

Leo smirked a bit. This guy is so far gone.

Piper cleared her throat a little. “Well, what’s your na--”

“Nick. Just Nick.”

She gave a brilliant smile. “Well, Nick, my throats been pretty sore this whole morning and I was wondering if you could get me something to drink?” From where Leo was, he could barely see Piper twirling her dark chocolate braid and flutter her eyes.

“I-I can’t. My boss told me not to leave the-, my post.”

Piper scrunched her eyebrows a little bit and bit her lip as if she seemed a bit upset. “I don’t think your boss would mind if I just had a bit of water for my throat?” She grabbed his hand innocently and looked up at him. “Would you?”

Suddenly Nick, blushing madly, got up from his bent position on the floor and fidgeted with the pieces of glass from the plate of cookies that fell. “Uh, sure. Of course. Is that it? Just water?”

Piper smile lightly, but Leo knew, inside, she was giving him a guilty, pitiful look. “Yes, that’s it.”

Nick, quick and nimble, walked through the kitchen doors in a nervous jiggle of strides. Piper then whipped her head back at Leo with big eyes and he knew Part 2: Stash the Goodies was in full blown operation. Leo, yelled-whispered, “Piper! Go Go Go Go!”

As he caught a glimpse of Piper grabbing the Baked Alaska, Caviar, Roasted Pork, Alfredo Pasta and 12 oz. steaks, placing them in big boxes that Leo designed to have tiny compartments for each food, he had stashed the boxes in the corner of the room the night before; he dashed behind the piano on the stage and grabbed his beautiful invention, Festus.

Festus, his amazing specimen, was a solar surfer. The best Leo’s ever made. With its golden metal board, running on jet fuel and the golden dragon at the head of it, it looked like a mini flying dragon. He designed the board with golden railings for balance and to hold on to when doing flips in midair and a huge mainsail/mass that directed the wind to go where he wanted to go. 

He looked at it with tender care.

I think I’m in love…

“Leo!” Piper shouted lowly into a whisper, causing him to snap out of it. “Hurry! I’m not sure how much time we have!”

She quickly juggled, dragged and pulled five big boxes of various five star foods, while Leo stood up on Festus and turned on the engine. The solar surfer began to float, lifting off from the floor slowly, ready to take off on a moment’s notice. He glided the solar surf board near the exit doors. “I’m ready!”

Piper gave him a look. “Um, a little help with the boxes maybe?”

“Oh, right!”

He quickly got off and helped piled the last three boxes on Festus. He grinned, dusting his hands on his cargo pants. “Man, isn’t this going just as plann---”

“Hey! Stupid Kids! What do you think you’re doing with my food!”

Leo whipped his head so fast, he almost had a whiplash from being taken by surprise.

The chef puffed his red lips with spit flying everywhere and began cursing in French. “Casse-toi pauvre con! BrÃ»le en enfer, Leo!”

Piper, frozen, just stood there, staring at the angry chef and the waiter she told to get a drink of water for her. Leo didn’t understand French, but by the look Piper was giving, since she knew the language, they didn’t seem like friendly welcoming words.

“Shit! Piper, let’s get out of here!” He grabbed her arm, causing her to wake up and they dashed to Festus in a blur. He got on the surfer and started switching the buttons in a number of random complicated patterns. He felt Piper grab one arm around his waist and the other one, probably on the railing.

“Umm, now would be a good time to go Leo …”

He looked behind her to see a red faced, big cheeked, baldhead cook (who strangely looked like a human version of a pig) thunder towards them screaming, cursing and kicking chairs out of his way about 100 feet away from them.

Thank god for this massive room!

“Great idea! Alright, time for Part 3: Gliding off into the Sunset with tons of food to go around and give to the hardworking poor employed third cla—”

Piper, panicking in a nervous voice, patted his shoulder quickly. “God, Leo! You can finish that later! GO!!!!”

“Alright! Alright! Alright! Geesh, what’s a guy gotta do to get some attention around here?”

“LEO! NOW! OR I SWEAR I WILL----”

Leo looked around Piper to see that the angry chef along with more chefs were within 5 to 10 feet and he slipped a genuine smile. “Thanks for the food, suckers!”

He then grabbed a slice of cake from one of the boxes that were tied down to his solar surfer and smashed the chef’s ugly pig face, causing it to splatter everywhere, including themselves.

“And that’s a warm thank you for not feeding your fellow greek workers in over 2 days.”

Piper couldn’t help but burst out in laughter. She then proceeded to salute the chef, ever so dignified, with the middle finger. Leo smiled with a wink.

“Nice touch.”

She grinned mischievously. “Thanks.”

The chef exploded in rage, bloodlust and extreme passion as he screamed in a scary pitch and belted out French and Latin words that Leo had no recognition of.

Piper went pale---which was pretty hard since she had tan skin--- as complete fear flooded her eyes, begging, “Shit! GO! GO! GO! He’s out for murder!!!!”

Leo crouched a little, hanging on to the railing and pressed his foot on the gas pedal.

“Hang on.” He whispered, ready for the rush. 

Festus blasted through the exit doors and Leo could hear Piper yelp as she tightened around his waist and the railing. Leo just whooped and hollered as he made a sharp right turn down the hallway. He closed his eyes for a second, smiling, feeling one with his machine.

“Leo! Look out!”

He opened his eyes, only to be faced with workers bustling around the hallways getting ready for the opening of the Argo. Too busy to notice two wide-eyed teenagers, a huge dragon solar surfer, and boxes of food piled on the back of it.

Leo started making loud fire truck noises: “WeeeoooooWeeeeoooooWeeeeoooooWeeeeooooo!”

Piper cupped her hands and bellowed, “MOVE! GET OUT THE WAY! IF YOU WANT FOOD, YOU KNOW WHERE TO FIND US!”

He glanced at his fellow co-workers in the hallways with every turn they made. Some were cheering them on, with hungry eyes and bright smiles filled with hope. Others, whispered in tight-nit groups, spreading the gossip of their prank like a wild fire. And to his surprise, some looked in disgust and anger, spitting at them to show their resentment.

“Leo, the Guards! They’ve spotted us! HURRY!”

He turned back just for a second, past Piper and saw that she was unfortunately right. Men, big and burly, were in their Olympus Police uniform and were sprinting, jumping, diving past workers, objects and more to catch up with them.

Leo began to feel that crazy excitement build up inside him and belt out a maniac laugh. He turned to Piper.

“Distract them! Throw something! Anything!”

“What! I’m not wasting the food!”

“Fine. Hold on,” He reached down into his tool belt that rested on his nonexistent hips and pulled out a knife. “Take this.”

She gave me an incredulous look. “Leo!”

“What!” Then he gave it a second thought. “Too evil?”

Her sarcasm dripped, strongly, “Gee, Ya’think?”

Leo, while steering the solar surfer, reached again into his tool belt and pulled out a slingshot with small rocks, handing it to her.

“You know, sometimes I really worry about you”, she joked.

He gave her knowing look as she started shooting the rocks at the police officers.

“I could say the same about you.” And he meant it. Too bad, she didn’t see the rare serious face he had.

She smirked, her eyes still facing the guards. “We’re a mess, aren’t we?”

As he turned back to the frontal view, and noticed the hallway space growing smaller and then ending with tiny opened two bedroom sized door, with the bright red word: EXIT on it. Past that, he creased his eyes and peered slightly to see the light blue sky peeking its way into Leo’s view and heard the sounds of the outside world coming increasingly closer and closer. His mind slowly started to connect the fact that his mainsail would not make it through the door---Then it hit him like a brick. “Crap! Piper, forget the Guards! Hold on tight and close your eyes!”

Piper, with lightning quick speed, fastened her arms around him and ducked her head behind his back. “Ugh, we’re doing the no-railing thing again, aren’t we?”

His foot stomped on the button with a bit too much determination, allowing the railings and mass to fold neatly and quickly with precision into the board. He balanced himself, Piper and the boxes of food as it zoomed straight towards the small door, letting out a battle cry.

He scrunched his eyes hard and twisted his fingers for luck. Come on, come on, come on… make it!

And just by grazing the edges of Festus, only slightly, they zoomed with a burst through the exit door and straight into the bright sunny day of Olympus. He tapped the button for the railings to come up again, and felt Piper shift her body away from him.

She let out a shout of victory, throwing her first into the air. Then she grabbed onto his shoulders, leaning on him slightly and breathed a sigh. “Wow, the views amazing! The sky is such a prettier shade than the one in America.”

He couldn’t help but smile at the morning’s fresh crisp air and light pink-orange-blue sky surrounding them.

Leo swerved the surfer downwards away from the sky and towards the ground to hide the view of them from the security guards. He headed towards a flight of stairs until he got to the second to last floor of the Argo’s ship.

The Greek workers floor.

It wasn’t shiny and gold, with butlers and maids at every door waiting to greet you. It didn’t have pretty paintings or plush Persian carpets decking the halls, waiting for your expensive shoes to grace them with every touch. And it definitely didn’t have any roman workers in this hall.

It was filled with Greek workers laughing, dancing to the music someone was playing, children running around back and forth through the doors like a maze. It was wooden with no beautiful carpets, but with the smell of good food being cooked and warmth expanding throughout the halls and doors. It wasn’t much, but it felt like home for Leo and Piper.

As they drifted above the heads of people in the halls; many gave big smiles, waved enthusiastically, and followed them knowing what was in the boxes. He looked ahead to see Mitchell and Lacy waving their hands from the trapdoor in the floor that was usually concealed by an old rug, but was now tossed to the side as if it was nothing.

“Come on, Guys! Hurry Up.” Lacy called out, waving her hands even more frantically than Mitchell.

When they got to them, Mitchel let out a whistle. “Man, I didn’t think you could do it.”

Leo shined a full grin with his pearly whites and held out his open palm. “Dude, I’m the King—”

“and Queen—”, Piper interrupted with a poke in his rib.

“Right. Right. We’re the King and Queen of Pranks. Cough it up.”

Mitchell grumbled a little but Leo could see the small hint of an impressed smile tracing his lips. He handed 10 drachmas to each of them with a “Fine.”

Piper quirked her lips to the side, crossing her arms in determination. “Ah, Ah, Ah, you're forgetting one little thing…”

Mitchell sighed heavily, “Piper and Leo are the coolest people I’ve ever met. There I said it. Are you happy?”

Leo couldn’t help but laugh. “Repeat it again? It’s just so beautiful to my ears----”

Lacey screeched, in a way only a petite little thirteen year old can, her navy blue eyes flashed threateningly under her blond pigtails. “We don’t have time for this! In case it hasn’t crossed your mind, the guards are after you guys. LET’S MOVE IT!”

As if in synchronized motion they all replied with a ‘Yes, ma’am” , and got back to work, by unloading all the boxes into the trapdoor, while Lacey went around the hall telling the onlookers and hungry Greeks to go into their rooms until the coast was cleared and then proceeded to keep watch.

When they unloaded the last of the heavy boxes, Mitchell got into the trap door to take it further inside. Piper immediately followed, but Leo grabbed her wrist.

“Remember, if anything happens, I’m the one who gets in troub—”

“No, Leo that wasn’t the plan. I’m not letting you take the blame!”

She shut the trap doors, and pulled the rug over it.

“Piper, I’m not letting you risk your job, you need the money---”

She stopped him with fierce eyes, “Leo, we’re best friends. If that means taking the blame for something we both did, I would do it.” She sent him a soft smile, before being interrupted by a scream.

“I SEE THE----Mmhhhhh!!!!!!”

They whipped their heads to see one of the guards holding Lacy and covering her mouth, while they others raced towards them.

Piper, with anger, started advancing towards them, “Hey, watch it! The kid’s got Asthma! Take your filthy hand off her, or I’ll hit you where it hurts the most!”

Leo, quickly jumping onto Festus, scoped Piper and speeded in the other direction.

“Hey! What about Lacy! We can’t forget her!”

“It’s too late, she’s already been caught!”

“Leo! The Greek saying: No one gets left behind! Remember?”

"Piper, we’re Americans. Besides she knew what she signed up for.”

And with that Piper shut up. They all knew, as in Piper, Lacy and Mitchell, what they were doing. If they got caught, they’d be kicked off the Argo, and have to find a job somewhere else. Which was becoming increasingly hard for Greeks to do in Olympus.

Piper and Leo were Americans, so they were undetermined, but they noticed it the minute their feet touched Olympus soil. He remembered as if it was yesterday. He and Piper, dressed in old dirty clothes, trailing Dylan in his cool black aviators, gelled black hair, tan skin, and blinding white teeth, looking uncertain at everything surrounding them. The first thing the women at the airport said before they boarded the plane to Olympia, Olympus’ capital city, was, “Roman or Greek?”

And Dylan, as Leo recalled, proudly gave his passport to the woman, as if it said it all. Leo, clearly remembered as he and Piper curiously peered over his shoulder to see big purple letters spell out: ROMAN.

Leo didn’t think much of it, other than it was mildly interesting---as anything else in an airport---but as they got into the plane it was screaming at him.

When he passed first class, as that’s where Dylan was sitting, the colors were decorated in deep purples and oranges, and he assumed both Greek and Roman people sit together. Even the bathrooms were shared. But as he passed second class, all the seats were decorated in rich purple and that was it. The quality of the chairs, of course, lessened but overall it was nice for second class. The only thing that left Leo with a queasy feeling was the bathrooms saying: ONLY ROMANS ALLOWED. And as he went to third class, where he and Piper would be staying, it was only covered in orange colors and the quality was deeply lowered. The bathrooms didn’t even look as great as the romans second class and with their increasing realization, Leo and Piper gave knowing glances. They weren’t prepared for it.

He didn’t want to believe it. Neither did Piper. But it seemed to have been lurking around for generations in Olympus. Maybe the rich didn’t notice, but the poor weren’t blind.

Piper, being Native American and Leo, being Mexican American, knew discrimination on a big and small scale at first hand. It was foolish to think maybe the new country they had come to would be completely different. Every country had their problems, and it seemed that Leo and Piper were facing them before they even reached Olympus.

On an airplane.

With in-denial but doubtful theories, they thought that the problems between the Roman and Greek were just minor like airplane seats, but when they got to the Argo, and it was everywhere they went. When they asked Dylan why it was like this, he laughed. Speaking as if he was talking to 5 year olds, he smiled. “That was such a long time ago. Why, I haven’t dealt with a stupid thing like, discrimination, since a decade or so ago.”

But Leo saw it. Piper saw it. Lacey and Mitchell saw it. The Greek workers of the Argo saw it, and occasionally the roman workers saw it.

The rich may have been blind, but the poor weren’t oblivious.

Piper shouted through his thoughts, causing him to emerge to the present. “We need to find a place to hide!”

“First, we need to find you a hiding place!”

“Wait, What?”

As they blurred through a hallway, he turned the solar surfer into a sharp left, causing them to go into another hallway. He got off, stopping when he found a door that was open. He checked to see if it was empty. 

It was.

He turned to look up at Piper, who was firmly planted on the solar surfer with an annoyed look.

“Come on, Beauty Queen.”

“Oh no! Not this time, Valdez. I’m sick of you treating me like thi—”

He grabbed at her hand quickly and looked at her. “Piper, you know why I do it. I’m not going to let you lose your job. You and I both know you can’t do that. Think of your D---”

She stopped him before he could say it. She roughly pulled her hand away and jumped off the solar surfer. “Fine.”

Leo heard running and shouting in the background and he pushed her inside the room and closed it. An irritated, “Hey!” came from the room and he whispered a “Sorry!” in return.

When he got back on the solar surfer, he saw the guards advancing with speed towards him. The biggest guy in the front looked like a fierce bull ready to dice Leo into tiny cubed Leo bits. Ironically enough, Leo was wearing a red t-shirt.

Out of the chaos, he managed a laugh, even in a situation like this. “Come at me Big Guy!” He took a sleeping gas bomb he invented a couple of months ago from his tool belt and threw it at the guards running towards him.

The bomb, split slowly, causing the guards to slow down to a hesitate stop, watching in fear of what the bomb could be. Leo watched along with the guards as the small navy marble rolled to a stop and cracked, peeling the navy skin and letting a white, cloudy smoke push its way out of the marble.

It looked harmless, from anyone’s eye, but Leo knew better.

He waited as the men exchanged looks, seeming to agree with amused smiles at the harmless joke the boy was playing. As they surged forward through the growing white smoke towards Leo, one by one they began to collapse. It wasn’t sudden, like fainting. It was exactly like sleeping. He watched as some guards would start dragging their legs, as if it was being pulled against their will from behind. Others’ postures began to droop, while some heads began to bend slowly towards the ground. One even managed a yawn before lowering himself into a fetal position on the floor.

Leo roared with laughter. “Man, I’m AWESOME!”

Until he realized Big Bull Guy managed to come out from the thick white fog and appear half-sagged faced and limping on a leg in tiredness.

Leo gave a big sigh, running a hand through his black curls. “Why couldn’t my life be like every action movie? You know, the good guy always wins, and the bad guys always loses. I get the girl, you end up in jail.” Leo gave a cocky smile, waiting for the guy to give even a tiny ounce of anger.

But Bull Guy didn’t say anything. Instead he gave a deadpanned face.

“Alright, alright…You look a bit tired. Here, let me help you!” Leo held out his hands in a taunting mockery, feeling his ego go overboard. But he couldn’t stop now. “Well, I guess you caught me. Isn’t this the part where you haul my ass to jail and then you and you’re overweight buddies head over to the diner for a cup of coffee and donuts?”

Leo’s nerves and smartass mouth began to slowly wear off like a drug, when he couldn’t get even the slightest ripple of emotion from the guy’s stone face. Instead, Bull Guy slowly walked--limping like a boss—towards him with a predator look flashing in his eyes. It was only then that Leo had realized what a stupid mistake he made. Bull Guy was a giant bear, compared to Leo’s snake skeleton frame. He had never realized it before, but Bull Guy had eyes tattooed everywhere. And he truly meant everywhere. He froze, shocking even himself, as he was always known for his quick problem solving abilities. The man was almost within a five feet radius, when from the corner of Leo’s eye he saw something fall with a loud thud, echoing in the quiet hallway.

They both turned their heads to see a dark-haired girl laying on the floor, half her body out of the cracked doorway.

“Piper!” Leo shouted, his body’s instant reaction tried to force him towards her, but his mind held him back, knowing it would be pointless.

Why did she even come out? So much for trying to keep her job. But he knew what Piper would be thinking…

Run Leo! Run!

His hesitance didn’t buy him enough time.

He felt a rock crush into his chest, knocking the wind out of him. He saw stars dance in his vision, as he flew back a few feet, landing flat on his back. Leo counted to five, waiting for his breaths to become normal from the short gasps he was heaving. When his breathing was readjusted and the pain in his chest subsided, he lifted his head slowly to see who gave it to him.

Big Bull Guy with tattooed eyes everywhere.

His ears ringed from the shock of the blow, and he could already feel the blood rushing through his veins. He laid for a second, watching as the guard stood casually, hand on his hip—not a single bruised finger or knuckle—as his other hand reached for his phone. He dialed and then put the phone to his ear. He spoke in a low, masculine voice, not really surprising Leo at all. “I’ve got both suspects. But I need backup. One of the suspects… yes, suspect 1… unleashed a bomb that caused our team to become unconscious. I’m still figuring out if it is harmful.”

It’s a fucking sleep gas, you idiot, Leo thought angrily.

…

“The other suspect, I can assume, was in hiding, before coming out. She is… yes, suspect 2 is a girl…Unconscious? Give me a second…”

Bull Guy turned his head away from Leo and started to walk towards Piper. Leo wanted to shout and shove the guy away from her, not letting him get near her, but a thought clicked in his head.

His mind started to rewire, reprogram and restart, even though the sleep gas was starting to have an effect on him. Bull Guy obviously thought he knocked Leo unconscious, which would explain the sudden disinterest in his body. He considered knocking out the guy from the back, but took the thought straight out of his head after thinking about his powerful fist. He couldn’t just leave Piper, but he had to distract the guy enough… Maybe he could just get him to believe he was still unconscious, he and Piper could make it out of here…. No…

He searched his tool belt for something useful, and felt his hands graze something feathery and wooden. His mind began to lighten up in excitement, even though the sleep gas was slowly crawling its way throughout his body. He latched on to the wooden cylinder and feather end. He smiled crazily as he held it in front of his eyes.

Oh yes… Yes, yes, yes.

He slowly got up, the sleep gas beginning to cause his mouth to open, and grab his solar surfer.

He had to get Piper, but first Bull Guy.

Leo saw him crouched in front of Piper’s sleeping body, as he gave off stats and damage reports to whoever he was talking to on the phone.

Alright Leo, just one clean shot. That’s it… He got closer to the man, slowly creeping up to get a better target.

The head? Too much damage. The arm? Not enough damage, slow to become unconscious.

Although Leo’s eyes drooped in exhaustion from the sleepy gas, they landed on Bull Guy’s neck and with extreme concentration, he put the tip of the _______ to his lips and waited for the right moment to blow.

Bull Guy stopped talking, his body still, and probably noticing his atmosphere was off. For a crazy moment, Leo thought he saw one of the tattooed eyes on the back of his ankle winked at him. But shook his head, dismissing it as a hallucination from the sleepy gas.

Just as Bull Guy made the slightest indication of moving his head to look behind him, Leo blew hard. He scrunched his eyes, praying to anyone, hoping it would hit him in the perfect spot.

And it did.

It shot through the cylinder and in a perfect straight line, it injected itself into a small patch of skin on the side of his neck, right below his ear. Bull Guy didn’t make a sound, but Leo could tell exactly how he was feeling just by watching his movements. Bull Guy dropped Piper’s hand that he was inspecting and stood up instantly, wrenching the _______ out of his neck. He clamped his hand on the spot it so gracefully decided to land on and Leo watched as his head started to turn red from anger. He started to march towards Leo and gave an expression like: How many times do I have to knock this sucker down, before he makes more damage.

But when he took the next step, his foot faltered, like he was drunk. 

Leo smiled in return. He crossed his arms casually, like he had all the time in the world. But in reality, it was the exact opposite, his body felt like lead. He need to get out of here with Piper, before the gas overtook him. Although, he did love putting on a show.

“How are you feeling? Nauseated, I bet.” He watched as Bull Guy tried to make another swing at Leo but missed his face, punching the air instead. “Wow that was a good one. You can do it, come on!”

Instead the Bull Guy just dropped on his knees and fell face forward.

Leo grinned, nudging his foot to the guy’s head to make sure he was unconscious.

“It’s okay, you’ll only be out for a couple of hours. If only I had shaving cream and a sharpie, now that would be a good prank.”

He heard Piper groan, stirring slightly and he focused at the task.

He dragged his feet, really feeling the effect of the sleep gas weighing him down and ran towards Piper’s body. He grabbed onto her arms, trying to hold her piggy back style, but it took too much effort on his weak sleepy limbs. He had carried her plenty of times; she tended to get injured a lot. This should have been simple. She was average height and weight, but now it was like holding an elephant. After he got her limp body on his back, he took a step forward but stumbled to the floor, with Piper in tow.

“No, no, no, no…” He wanted to take a nap. A nice, relaxing nap, and cuddle in a blanket with a nightlight. He wanted to sleep, a good 12 hour nap.

His eyes drooped and he turned his head slowly to see blurry guards in gas masks, running towards them.

He tried to get up, but Piper weighed him down, as half her body was on top of him. He wanted to ….

…..

Up Next: Annabeth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up Next: Annabeth


	5. 30 pumps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annabeth's POV

Annabeth tucked her hair further behind her ear. She was reluctant, but she tried to relax.Taking her time, she spotted the fast-moving trees zipping out of her vision through the car window. She knew she didn’t have much time before they reached their destination, but she was being stubborn. She just had to at least try to hold on to her small pathetic oath. Annabeth had received the letter she clutched in her hands two weeks ago, but promised herself to not open it for a number of reasons…. it was already bad enough that she realized how strong her feelings were...

But her curiosity won in the end.

To my clever Annabeth,

Sorry if my handwriting is a bit messy. I'm on a bus write now in Australia, heading to the beach. Anyways, I thought this would be the perfect moment to write to you. I overheard two old men talking about a beautiful building across the street. Just another constant reminder of why one of my favorite people in the world isn’t right beside me to admire the building and tell me about its history. 

On another note, Australia is absolutely fantastic! Seriously, the foods amazing! Ironically, there were not as many kangaroos as I would've expected to be bouncing around. But it’s been weeks since I’ve talked to you, and I’m starting to miss you much more than usual. It might just be homesickness, but I’m psyched to see you and even better: on the Argo. It’s funny though, I think I’ll truly miss the days when our little trio of you, me and Thalia had great adventures, or from what Thalia always refers to as “the glory days”. It’s amazing to think how innocent we were back then. But , I guess adult world hit us like a bus and we had to grow up. Well, at least it hit us, I’m not quite sure about Thalia.

But, are you excited? The Argo will be pretty sick, don’t you think? From what I heard, there’s rock climbing, ice skating, bowling, zip lining, bungee jumping and the list goes on! I know you’ll be very happy with the architecture. In fact, I was thinking we should meet the guy who designed it! Apparently, he’s supposed to be some prodigy. But then again, you’re a teen genius, so I guess you wouldn’t be too impressed. Although, something tells me, Thalia will call in “sick” if we ask her to come along. You know how she hates tours of any kind.

Also, I’ve been meaning to ask you about something and I wanted your opinion on it. We all know you’re the wisest of us, despite you being the youngest. Something’s happened and I can’t seem to make any sense of it. Honestly, I’m quite conflicted on the matter.

I think of you every day and I hope you’re still in good health.

Love,  
Luke 

She sighed contently, resting her head on the window. 

...I think of you every day…

She couldn’t even help as she slid further into her leather seat and closed her eyes with a soft smile. 

Annabeth was not the romantic type. In fact, she had always somewhat disliked the way the world automatically categorized every woman to be romantic and flirty with every attractive male specimen that walked the earth.

But, gods, was she feeling head over heels right now.

It had taken quite sometime to develop this crush she had on him. Mostly because, she had her head stuck in her books for years. But they could talk about anything and everything. Luke was always so patient and kind, something Thalia had a hard time grasping when they were younger. Not to mention, Annabeth practically looked up to him as a brother when she was very young. But now, she was nearly an adult and Annabeth didn’t just admire him...

So when puberty came full speed, (as much as she hated to admit it) he just got hot. Or swoon-worthy, take your pick.

She had always known he was attractive when they were younger, but it didn’t truly hit her in the face until Thalia and her had invited him to come to Saint Mary’s All Girls Preparatory School for the weekend. Lets just say: girls flocked the courtyard and their dorm room for days. 

She promised herself she would confess to him, but ever since the Prep-School incident, she had always wondered if their was someone else that caught his---

“It’s rather… flamboyant, isn’t it?” Her mother called out to her, pulling Annabeth out of her thoughts. She folded the letter and pocketed it in her jean shorts.

“What is?”

“Well, the Argo, of course. I mean just look at this scenery!”

Annabeth’s driver opened the door for her, and she stepped out, peering at the Argo from the ground, beside Athena.

She was right.

It was massive. The entire ship floating in mid air like a giant fallon from New York’s Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade. In fact, as she looked around her, the entire place was a parade. Paparazzis and commoners had been blocked off from the other side of the street, heavily guarded by police officers. Interestingly enough, many teenaged girls were screaming names of boys like, Jason! or Nico!, with posters of marriage proposals, prom dates, and other various declarations of love. Fireworks and confetti were sprinkled in the sky, giving off a cheerful celebration. She even saw news reporters from a variety of news stations reporting the opening day of the beautifully, designed cruise ship, the Argo.

The one she would be boarding in 30 minutes.

Athena, her mother, crossed her tanned arms in front of her. Her face was still not satisfied. But Annabeth felt the complete opposite. She blew a content sigh in admiration for the ship’s design. A talented genius had to have designed this beauty. Her breath carried itself up, blowing her flyaway strands of wavy hair out of her face. 

“It’s beautiful.”

“Oh, Annabeth,”Athena stared at her. “You can’t be serious? Just look at the way they built the funnel! It’s too bulky, for this thing to even be considered as ‘architecturally inspiring’. Can you believe Architectural Digest Magazine described it as that! My hope in the intellectual minds of others is slowly decimating.”

Annabeth shook her head, her eyes looking at the ship. While she did think it was beautiful and understood why the Architecture designed it the way it was, her mind quietly whispered, I could have done it better. 

Instead of voicing that hubris thought, she pointed at certain areas of the ship, making her argument. “You may be right on the funnel being too bulky, but if you look at the stem bulb and stabilizer fin, it’s a necessity for its flight. Without it, the chance of not being able to navigate its course would be highly detrimental. Not to mention that the propeller and rudder need to be lighter to even support or equal the weight of the funnel.” She gave Athena a raised brow, a sly smile creeping up her lips. “So in this case, making the funnel too bulky was a must.”

Athena flashed a proud smile and wrapped her arm around Annabeth’s shoulders. “I’m assuming that you studied the Argo recently?”

“Actually, no. I was in the library, last January, looking for some light reading material and found this book … Cruise Ships: An Evolution in Design by Philip Dawson. Have you heard of it? It’s quite fascinating.”

Her mother opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted. 

“Ah, Ms. Chase! What a pleasure!” A low, airy voice carried through the wind ending their conversation.

Annabeth and Athena turned to see a man, mid 30s, in a black suit strutting with such high respect, that for a second (and only for a second) she thought he might’ve of been someone with political background. But then she noticed the butler black bow tie, his shiny gold name tag and his too forceful, completely tiring, fake smile rising up to greet them. Annabeth guessed that her and her mother must have been the 50th guest he had greeted this morning.

But even so, he gave a slow bow, as if their presence needed an extra second or so of proper respect and gently shook Athena’s hand . Annabeth noticed the quickly masked displeasure her mother showed when the butler greeted her as if she was fragile. “Ms. Chase, how are you on this lovely morning?”

“Splendid, possibly better than you, I would presume,” Athena’s casual smile spread through her red lips, hiding the snide comment and stunted the butler for a moment. Then he slightly shook his head, as if finally realizing the rude comment and gently reached his hand for Annabeth’s, asking with concern, “Are you in favor of myself greeting you as Miss Chase, or would you prefer something more----”

Annabeth firmly shook his hand, her steady eyes meeting his. If there was something Annabeth disliked more than fake personas; it would be people who believed she was a delicate flower who enjoyed nothing more than to be treated like a princess and talk about the gossip of celebrity lives. 

Annabeth had better, more important things to do. 

“Just Annabeth.”

“Of course, Just Annabeth .” He smiled, running his eyes up and down her, trying and failing to make a flirty joke.

Annabeth, in response, crossed her arms in front of her and didn’t smile. This usually gave the opposite sex the silent but immediate rejection. And in response the butler --at the request of her mother’s faint cough--quickly headed to the trunk of the car and began to grab the suit cases. 

Athena turned her attention to another butler who was offering champagne on a gold platter and called out to her daughter. “Annabeth? This nicely, dressed butler is kindly escorting me to the Argo. Do retrieve your brother and follow us along, will you?”

Before she could even reply, she heard pounding from the car door. Little fists demanding to be set free. With a small sigh, she stopped another butler from opening the door and did it herself. A younger, identical looking, male version of Annabeth looked up at her with blank, stormy eyes. 

Did he recognize her? 

They had spent 45 minutes in the back seat of the car together, although she was reading a book and he was playing a video game. She gave a small smile and crouched down to his level, testing the waters.

“Malcolm?”

No response.

She tried a method Dr. Apollo had mentioned before. “It’s Bethy-Bethy? Remember?” It was a nickname Malcolm had called her before his autism started showing signs. Annabeth did a series of sign hand motions to say, BB? 

It took him a couple of moments to respond. His eyes thinking a million things at once; that she knew all too well occurred in all members of the Chase family. Finally, he nodded his head slightly and made sign motions: Home?

Annabeth, slightly excited that he had responded for the first time today quickly made hand motions, No. We’re going on an Adventure! She gave a wide smile, as if to prove her point. 

But with every five steps forward, two of his steps always retreated back.

He crawled deeper into the limo and rocking himself back and forth, fetal position. Talking was pointless, as he rarely wanted to speak and tricking him was useless, as he was too smart. So instead, she grabbed the mini erase board beside him and drew a math symbol, his favorite dessert: π , and showed it to his face. 

Bribery was always the best option. 

It took him a good minute for his head to slowly lift out from under his arms and peek at the board, and another 2 minutes to unfold from his position and grabbed Annabeth’s hand.

Together they emersed from the black car--hand in hand--armed with a nintendo and a mini erase whiteboard, entering the ship.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After she had dropped off her brother at her mother’s luxurious suite, she decided to walk around and discover the ship. So far, everything had been absolutely fantastic, with the kind staff and the constant attention of attending all of her needs; she felt pretty relaxed. Which was something that rarely happened. 

She looked out on one of the public open balcony views and just stared at the city before her. Her home. She hadn’t spent much time in Olympus after turning seven, but she always held it dear to her heart. 

Suddenly, she heard a gasp.

Before she registered the quick tightening pain surrounding her torso and shoulders, peppermint and pine cones filled the air and washed over her like a wave. A pair of thin but strong arms encased her, blinding Annabeth’s vision of nothing more than midnight black hair.

“Annabeth! Where have you been!” Thalia took a step back, her hands on her hips, the girly pink bow in her hair, clashing with her harsh black nails (the only freedom Thalia had a say in), the pink of her dress looking too submissive with her superwoman stance. “What? It’s been a couple of months since we were roommates, and you only call me once a month?” She glared with what Annabeth could only assume was passion and fiery anger.

Annabeth couldn’t help but smile despite Thalia’s glare. She missed her best friend: her mothering tendencies (as she was two years older than Annabeth), her no-nonsense attitude, her brilliant sense of confidence wafting along with her stubbornness. Had she not have met her when she was eleven and Thalia was thirteen in boarding school in New York, USA (Annabeth skipped two grades), the odds that they would have been friends--much less roommates--would have dwindled. How random had it been, that two international exchange students, both from the country, Olympia had been placed in the same prestigious Saint Mary’s all-girls Preparatory Boarding School. Although, Annabeth suspected that the administrators had placed them together for the comfort of knowing they were not alone in a country with a different culture, language, lifestyle, etc.

“Last I checked, Thalia, you’ve been backpacking through Europe for 5 months. And how in Hades’ name was I supposed to call you? You didn’t even carry a phone with you!”

“Please, there were so many ways---”

“Plus, writing a letter defeats the purpose, when you’re changing addresses every three days.”

Dismissing Annabeth’s answer with only a eyeroll, Thalia grabbed her arm and guided her to another balcony overlooking the commoners and police officers on the streets of the ports. Annabeth glanced at their arms resting on the gold railings, and still--after all these years--she was shocked at the contrast between the two of them.

She was tanned, deeply.

Thalia was pale, like sheets of snow in December.

Annabeth was book smart.

Thalia was street smart. 

Annabeth was level-headed, practical, wise.

Thalia was temper-headed. One wrong move, and BOOM, there goes your body, along with the remains of your dignity. Annabeth and Luke were the only ones that could handle her moments.

“Gods, Annabeth, I’ve missed you.” Thalia was looking at her, now. Her voice soft and sincere; it was rare and didn’t come often. “So, much has happened since we graduated.

“Yeah, and let’s not forget it was a semester early.”

Annabeth remembered those boring, empty, lonely last days spent at Saint Marys. Ever since she could remember, Thalia had complained about her home life, her terrible stepmother and daydreamed about being free from her hereditary job position (which she never actually told Annabeth to this day). So when the opportunity came to graduate a semester early, Thalia grabbed it and decided to go on a adventure through Europe. Annabeth decided to stay for another semester and take extra classes for fun.

Thalia’s reason was, To find herself! Whatever that meant. 

“You know I’m sorry.”

“I know, I know. It’s just... I missed having you at graduation, that’s all.”

“...Annabeth--”

Quickly, Annabeth smiled back at her. She was over it. The blonde grabbed her best friend’s ivory hand and squeezed it. “It’s fine, Thalia. How was Europe?”

Her face lit up, like a child on Christmas. “Oh! It was Amazing! Everything was beautiful and I met some really cool people in Germany.” Thalia stretched her arms out, over her head, then she stiffened and looked at Annabeth, wide-eyed. “OH!”

“What is it?”

“Annabeth, I forgot to tell you!”

“What happened?”

Thalia shifted suddenly, rearranging her dress, as if it was uncomfortable. She started rubbing her hands, twisting the rings on her fingers. “Well...It just kind of happened…” She paused taking a deep breath and ran her fingers through her hair. “You see, I hadn’t seen him in awhile. So we decided to meet up and talk over coffee. And then he…”

Did Thalia fall in love? Annabeth had known of Thalia’s short summer, winter, fall or spring flings, but none of them had ever affected her in this way.

“Oh, spit it out! Who is it? What did you do?”

“I had---”

“Thalia! You left your phone in the car.”

Annabeth turned around to connect the masculine voice to a face.

He had sharp electric blue eyes. Eyes Annabeth had stared at for about seven years in a dorm room in New York: smiling, laughing, glaring, eye rolling at them. She connected the dots with just his eyes and took a step back, only to realize the railing was behind her.

He didn’t seem to notice, as he flashed a perfect smile and reached out for a handshake. “Hello, you must be Annabeth Chase. I’m Jason Grace, Thalia’s brother.”

It took Annabeth only half a second to regain her cool composure and shook his hand. But in her mind, she felt utter shock travel through the tips of her fingers, which quickly turn to anger as she looked from Thalia to Jason. They did have the same sharp features: from their strong jawline to high cheekbones to their identical, ever present, ever bright, blue eyes. But that’s where the similarities stopped short. She was short, he was tall. She was milky white with freckles sprinkling her nose and cheeks; he was touched by the sun, with a scar on the corner of his mouth. Their hair colors, meeting at the extreme, quite opposite ends of the spectrum. While she stood with confidence only a daredevil would have; he stood like a diplomat or politician at a party. They were complete opposites.

But aside from all of this: How in HADES did Thalia not explain she had a brother? Of all the times she talked about her family, why had she not bothered to mention a brother?

“Hi.” She could feel him, like so many others, become uncomfortable under her stare. So instead, she turned to Thalia, “How is it, in 7 years, you haven’t bothered to mention him?”

Thalia just gave a shrug. “It never came up.”

She sighed with disbelief, repeating the words to herself. “It never came up…” Annabeth didn’t know whether to scream at her or to blow it off, like Thalia was doing at this second. But, as she thought it through, none of those responses were very logical. She cleared her head and gave a polite closed smile.

“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Jason.”

Thalia let out a great unlady-like laugh and slung her arms around their shoulders, reaching a bit, as she was the shortest. She led them out of the busy balcony view and steered them in direction of the teen dorm halls. Her sarcasm practically bellowed at their ears. “Glad to know you two will be best friends!”

She let go of them, flashing a big smile and walked quickly in front of them with determination. Annabeth sighed, leave it to Thalia to tell her important information and then leave her stranded with it.

Jason gave out an awkward laugh. Even though Annabeth gave props to how realistic it sounded, she could see right through it. She guessed he must have been a good actor, since everything from his first impression and handshake to his appearance was unnecessarily perfect.

“I can’t say I’m surprised, though.”

Annabeth looked up at him. She was a tall girl, but her head only reached his neck. “What do you mean?”

“Her friends from America are always surprised to see me. Apparently, brother is the least used word in her vocabulary.”

Annabeth could feel a tiny hidden hint of hurt slipping through his voice, and she sympathized for him. But at the same time, she still did not have the slightest clue as to why Thalia hadn’t even uttered a word about Jason. She couldn’t go a day without wondering where Malcolm was, whenever she came back to Olympia for the holidays and vacation breaks.

She wanted to talk about it, but not with him. Instead, she changed the subject. “Oh, I’m actually from Olympia. It’s just that I go to school in America, and when I’m not at school, I’m traveling. Honestly, Olympia is almost a little foreign to me, sadly enough.”

He seemed a little surprised, but he just nodded instead.

Annabeth thought back to something that happened earlier that day and made the connection. “So, that’s who they were talking about?”

“Sorry?”

“The screaming girls with their posters. You’re Jason?”

He nodded politely, but it seemed like an uncomfortable topic for him. Which is exactly why Annabeth plowed further into the topic.

“I don’t get it, though. Are you famous? Why do they love you so much? You must be an actor or something, right?”

He stopped dead in his tracks and stared down at her. His handsome face furrowed in curiosity and cautiousness.

“You… you really don’t know? She didn’t tell you…?”

She wanted to reply with frustration, because it seemed that her best friend had forgotten many details to inform her in the past 7 years they had spent together. 

But a familiar voice echoed behind them, catching Annabeth’s attention and completely destroying anything else that crossed her head but Him.

And at once, they all turned around.

“THALIA! ANNABETH!” He grinned from ear to ear, his curly, sunny locks shifting around in the wind with his arms spread out like an eagle, wide open in warmth.

“Luke!” Annabeth and Thalia shouted in glee. She raced towards him, Thalia right behind her and they all collided together in a great big hug. Luke, grabbing both their waists, lifted them both in the air, shaking them side to side, letting out shrieks and laughter from all three. Annabeth could bet from anyone else’s point of view, they looked like maniacs but she didn’t care in the slightest.

He set them down, and she could feel butterflies fluttering in her stomach. “Well if it isn’t my two favorite girls in the world.”

Thalia gave a flirty smile at Luke--completely stopping Annabeth from doing anything but stare in shock--and watched as she slipped her hand into his, intertwining their fingers. “Well, don’t you think I deserve a new title now that we’re together?”

together…

Was it him all along? Over the summer, did Thalia and him…

No…

Annabeth’s smile faltered as she looked at her two best friends.

Luke smiled with affection at Thalia, his forehead meetings hers in that loving way couples do.

Gods, it made her sick.

“Is Girlfriend a better word, then?”

Thalia gave a teasing peck on the cheek, and before he could go in for a kiss, she untangled herself from him. “We’ll see. I’m still deciding if I like the sound of it.”

Luke rolled his eyes, but his smile still lingered at the sight of her.

Annabeth had never felt like a third wheel, but now she was finally starting to understand the saying, three’s a crowd. Her stomach, once filled with nervous butterflies, now traveled its pain upward to her heart. And not in a good way. She felt as if everything she had been hoping to occur this summer was slowly decimating into nothing. And worst of all, Annabeth had come to the conclusion that maybe what she thought Luke was hinting at was really nothing to be hinted at.

Lost in deep thought, it took her a second to realize a hand being waved in front of her face.

“Annabeth?” Luke asked, “You okay? You look pale.” He placed a warm hand on her arm, rubbing his thumb into her skin.

What once felt soothing, reassuring and loving, now just felt like a hot burn on her cool skin. Annabeth flinched, quickly stepping away and bumped into someone else.

Jason. She’d nearly forgotten he was there.

He steadied her, but Annabeth just grabbed the railing instead. Thalia, full of concern, grabbed her hand. “Woah, you need to lie down, Annabeth. You must be jetlagged.”

She looked up at her best friend and just stared. Her dark black hair, was hurriedly pushed out of her face as the wind blew lazily; her attention focused solely on Annabeth. Thalia was one of the few people she knew whose parting in her hair changed constantly. She was gorgeous, something Annabeth didn’t truly crave or care about until now.

Of course, he chose Thalia.

But did he never think of her? Why couldn’t Annabeth have been good enough for him? She was just as confident as Thalia! She was smarter than Thalia! If he could just open his eyes and see that---

Suddenly the attention, concern, love and jealousy was all too much and Annabeth pushed past them a bit too eagerly. “Um, yeah, I am feeling a bit jetlagged. I think I’ll just go---go take a nap.”

Luke grabbed her wrist. “Let me walk you to your room.”

“No, its fine.” She jerked and twisted her wrist out of his gentle grip and quickly pocketed both her hands in her jean shorts. He looked hurt. “Besides why don’t you three have fun. Check out the Argo! I heard there’s a Launch off Party in 20 minutes.”

Jason, this time, spoke up. “Are you sure?”

She faked a smile.

“Positive."

And with that, Annabeth walked away as fast as she could, wanting to get out of that love fest she just witnessed. Nothing could stop the internal suffering. Her legs felt weak with disbelief at what she saw. And in return, the smallest but only thing she could do to release at least the slightest bit of agony was crying. So she waited until she reached the nearest empty bathroom to let only a couple of tears slip.

And only a couple.

She would get over him.

She had too.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She reached Room 216, once she was sure her eyes were clear and her skin was free of redness and blotchy reactions to a heartache.

The whiteboard nailed neatly into the door read:

Welcome!  
καλωσόρισμα  
Salve

 

Annabeth decided to open the door, but realized that it wasn’t just her dorm room now. She’d been so caught up in her two best friend’s love (seemed more like lust in her opinion) for each other that she’d forgotten that she shared this dorm.

Annabeth had a roommate.

For some reason, she had forgotten that her mother had mentioned that all teens from 13-19 had to share a cabin with a random person on the ship. She took a sigh, tightening her ponytail at the root of the blonde tail and knocked three times. Each knock, even and precise, the loud thud echoing in an empty hallway, because Annabeth--like always--was earlier than everyone else.

“You may enter, Annabeth Chase.”

Annabeth paused. She didn't expect anyone to get there before she did.

Annabeth’s eyebrows furrowed at the sound of the person’s voice. It was definitely feminine, but it held an air of all-knowing authority. Annabeth paused for only another second, as she didn’t want to seem nervous in front of this girl. There was an alpha and a beta for everything. And if she was going to be living in this dorm for a month, she might as well make the boundaries clear. She’d had enough of crazy roommates at Saint Mary’s.

She opened the door to find a girl facing the balcony window directly in front of her. Her long, thick raven hair was in a single french braid that traveled from the top of her head and ended just below the middle of her back. She wore a white blouse, with fitted khaki shorts and roman sandals. Although she could not see her face, her stance from behind stood with power.

Annabeth took a step in the room. "Hello, you must be …”

She turned around, her face studying Annabeth’s and vice versa. They just stood for a moment, taking each other in and Annabeth did not break the stare between the two. Finally, the girl with the braid reached out for a hand, “Reyna.”

But even then, they did not break eye contact as they shook hands. Annabeth noticed that even though Reyna kept her hair out of her face, she did leave a couple of strands out, just like herself.

Suddenly, a loud voice filled the room, hallway and the open balcony, breaking their staring contest at once. Annabeth could only assume it was the Captain’s greeting message to the passengers.

Welcome, Passengers on the Voyage of the Argo! The first flying Cruise Ship to ever grace the skies with its beauty and luxury. Now, as your Captain speaking, I would like to inform you that all passengers will receive a customary …

Annabeth began to tune him out and look around the surprisingly big room that was now her bedroom. In front of her was a tall, wide window from the floor to the ceiling that opened into the balcony, which Reyna was currently occupying. It had two gold lawn chairs and a table with a pretty view of Olympus, the capital city of Olympia.

To the right sat two queen beds against a wall, with a lampstand and two lamps separating their beds. On the other sides of each beds were wide closets with hangers ready to be hanged.

Annabeth faced the other side of the room to find a large flat TV screen framed in the middle of the wall, between two white doors. Underneath the TV was a study desk that was accompanied with a wooden, fancy study chair. When she opened one of the two identical white doors, inside was a massive bathroom that connected the doors. And between the beds and the TV/desk was a wide couch.

It was nice. But all Annabeth could think of was a certain couple smiling about somewhere in the ship.

Suddenly, something muffled, like a person’s voice, caught her attention.

Annabeth stepped out of the bathroom. “Sorry, I could barely hear you. The bathroom must be soundproof.”

“It is.” Reyna, now standing near the bed Annabeth had claimed and was gently grazing the Daedalus laptop on her bed. “You have the Daedalus Pro? It’s stunning. Very sophisticated.”

Annabeth subconsciously lit up. Anything to do with that laptop always gave her a pleasant feeling. “It’s more than sophisticated. It’s practically flawless.”

“But, I thought it wasn’t coming out until a few years from now?”

“My mother knows the Inventor.”

“Athena Chase, you mean?” Reyna asked, but didn’t bother to wait for a reply. “Yes, I’ve heard she has close ties to Daedalus. What, with your company being so advanced and all. ”

Annabeth paused and turned her head towards Reyna.

“How do you know all this information? I don’t remember ever being sent information about you.” She guessed her voice must have sounded suspicious, because Reyna left her position from Annabeth’s bed to sit on her own.

There was something about Reyna, that Annabeth could see in herself. And in the back of her mind, something was telling her that as much as she was trying to figure out the girl in front of her, Reyna was doing the same. But at the same time, she felt so different from her...

Reyna, held her head high, crossing a tan leg over the other. “I have to know everyone. It’s in my job requirement. The better question is: Why---”

“You’re Roman, aren’t you?” Annabeth couldn’t help but blurt it out. It just suddenly became so obvious: the way she talked, acted, stood. The air of importance in her voice. Weirdly, Annabeth’s drive to prove something to this girl suddenly spiked.

Reyna’s dark eyes shined in the light with pride. “Born and raised.”

She inwardly rolled her eyes. She had met people like Reyna, so proud of their heritage during her short visits in Olympia. She never understood the whole "roman thing" and quite frankly, she was glad she wasn't apart of it. Being Roman, in Annabeth's opinion, left you acting like a brainless, uncreative soldier who only took orders from popular leaders, who didn't necessarily have the correct criteria to lead a group of people.

But to be fair, Reyna seemed different from the other romans she’d met.

"And your Greek, I assume? "

Annabeth raised a brow. "You assume? You already know who I am. You know who my mother is and who she’s friends with.Why act like you don't know my heritage? And by the looks of it," She searched with her eyes around the room until she saw a small inch of a yellow folder trying but failing to be concealed between the mini fridge and the wall. "You probably have a file on me, along with a couple of other people on this ship. Isn't it over there?"

Reyna didn't react in the slightest. Annabeth suspected Reyna purposely did that. She struck Annabeth as a very intelligent person, so the odds of her carelessly hiding important documents seemed very unlikely. Curiously, she wondered if this was a test of the dark haired girl to prove something she already knew.

To any other person, this type of questioning might have annoyed or seemed strange to them, but Annabeth was used to this. Her whole life, she was constantly being questioned by people as if they suspected her to be an idiot or a joke. Maybe it was the blonde hair or her gender... Being the daughter of Athena Chase left her no room for trial and error. Everything had to be trial and success, even if she wasn’t prepared. 

Annabeth, suddenly feeling uncomfortable, decided the conversation between the two was enough for today.

“So, I’m heading to the pool. I’m thinking to skip the big Launch Off Party. Maybe I’ll catch you later?”

Reyna casted off a tired gaze at the desk, piled with paperwork, as if relaxing was the last thing on her mind. “I highly doubt it. I have important things to discuss with my Mentor.”

It seemed obvious now, this girl didn’t spend much time relaxing.

“Well, I’ll see you later.”

She grabbed a bag and stashed her laptop in it, along with some sunscreen and two towels. As she headed out the door, Reyna called her name.

“Yeah?”

She was now seated at the desk, her hands grazing the paperwork with her eyes skimming through the tiny letters. She looked up and gave Annabeth a cautious glance, as if Reyna wasn’t sure if she should tell her something.  
“Annabeth, you’re a smart girl. So I’ll be frank. There’s someone on this ship. He goes by the name Octavian. If you meet him---no----just, just avoid him. People like him, you don’t want to be associated with, let alone, trust.”

She could tell Reyna wasn’t trying to trick or test her. It was honest advice and she felt that some kind of silent but mutual respect was formed between the two in this room. 

Annabeth nodded; there was no need to question her. She would figure it out soon enough on her own.

“Oh and there’s something in your hair.”

Annabeth’s eyes shot up, widening like a deer in headlights. Her hands quickly traveled her head, afraid of one thing.

“What! Where? Is it moving?”

The only thing that was crossing her mind was a certain little species of evil insects. She pulled out her ponytail, letting her wavy curls fall out and started shaking it. Before she even noticed, Reyna was out of her chair, walking over to her with an unreadable expression across her face. Annabeth didn’t even have time to care though, her fear was creeping up throat as she thought it might still be on her. Trying to stop her panic, she closed her mouth and eyes, but shaked her head like a maniac.

Reyna grabbed her shoulders and firmly tried to hold her still.

“Annabeth, it’s just a piece of lint.”

Slowly, her fear washed away, leaving only embarrassment as she halted her hair to a stop.

“...Oh...”

“Here, let me get it…”

Reyna reached over to her, and picked it out in a second. Trapped between her thumb and an index finger was a black piece of cotton.

“See?”

“Right...Just lint. I must have over reacted.” She felt her cheeks rise in temperature, so she started heading back to the door and grabbed her bag.

She gave a quick wave.

“Thanks.”

Reyna sent a small one her way, but even then, Annabeth could spot the hidden amusement in her eyes.

“No problem.”

And in that moment, it was as if the tension in the room---something she had not noticed before---had lessened.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Taking Malcolm out of the hands of her mother, was not quite that hard, as she was too busy talking to others at the party. Annabeth had decided to skip the big Launch off Party (for a number of reasons, but mainly to avoid two specific people) on the Highest deck of the Argo and instead, took Malcolm to the pool. Besides, Malcolm wasn’t a fan of loud noises, something her Mother should have realized...

He waddled slightly behind her in his red trunks, grabbing onto her hand and his nintendo. She had made sure, before they left to lather him in sunscreen and could now see she missed a spot on his arm. She noted to fix that later.

The pool was the size of an olympic pool, but the design was quite creative and original. The theme, as it seemed, were sculptures of birds and ocean animals in the shallow section (Annabeth could only assume they did that because the Argo was 1) a flying boat in the sky and could also be 2) a boat in the ocean). The edges of the pool curved in and out, gliding around in the shape of a deformed circle-ish square. A massive lazy river swirled through the pool, along with a couple of water slides sprinkled throughout the perimeter.

She was a bit surprised at the lack of people swimming around. She could her the faint music off in the distance with thousands of people cheering, talking, laughing and so on. She guessed most of them were partying for the ship’s launch on the other side of the boat, along with her Mother. She didn’t mind though, the quieter it was, the easier it would be to finish the prototype for a building she was working on.

Malcolm tugged on her shorts and pointed at the shallow side of the pool. A questioning look crossed his eyes and she smiled and nodded in return.

“Oh, hold on. Just a second, bud. I forgot something.” She grabbed the sunscreen out of her bag and applied it to his arm. Then she grabbed his arm floaties and strapped them on to him, making sure it wouldn’t fall out. He pouted a bit, tugging at the floaties, giving her a look of disapproval. They’d had this same quiet conversation a hundred times before and she was sure Malcolm knew she wouldn’t change his mind. She would rather have an alive brother, then a dead one.

She pushed lightly towards the shallow side of the pool with a smile. “Alright, big guy. You’re free. Do what you want.”

He took off running, cautiously distancing himself from a group of kids his age in the shallow pool. He had social issues. But Annabeth liked to think that when he got older, he’d grow out of it. 

Hopefully…

It was stupid: wishful thinking. It was something she rarely did, but like always, there's an exception for everything.

It was already hard enough that Athena, her mother was diagnosed with---

“Oh my gods! Larissa, Claire, Nikki, 6’o clock!”

Annabeth looked behind to see a cluster of girls stretched out on the lawn chairs in their bikinis with their big sunglasses pushed back. She followed their line of sight to see lifeguards changing shifts and a tall, lanky but built guy climb the lifeguard tower to take a seat.

Annabeth took a seat in the lawn chair in front of them, opening her laptop.

She heard a sigh from the group. “Just look at him sitting there....He shouldn’t even be legal.”

“Girls, let’s take a moment of silence to thank his parents for making this hottie!”

……….

Annabeth heard laughter escape them after 10 seconds or so. 

“Amen.”

“Amen!”

“Amennn…” One of the girls purred.

“You think he’s got a girlfriend?”

“Of course he does. Hello! Guys like him are always taken.”

“Or never taken. He probably has a different girl every day.”

“I doubt it. He’s working on this ship for a month or however long we’re on it, so he’s probably single.”

“You think he broke it off before the summer started?”

“Maybe?”

“Hopefully!”

She tried focusing on her designs, but those girls broke through her concentration.

“Dibs!”

“That’s not fair! Besides, he’s more than just an object. He’s my soon-to-be boyfriend.”

“Rightttt, let’s see how long it’ll take before you crash and burn.”

“What, you think he would even take a second glance at you?”

“I know he would---”

 

“Girls!!!” Annabeth couldn’t take it anymore, mostly because she was annoyed that she couldn’t design a roof for her building. “He’s just a boy! Haven’t you ever heard of Sisters before Misters?” 

They gave blank stares, blinking their thick mascaraed eyelashes. 

A thought popped in her head: what’s the point of wearing makeup, if its going to be ruined by the water?

She pushed on.

“Seriously? It’s gotta be like the first or second rule of Girl Code!” Annabeth fought back an eye roll and continued. “Listen, you shouldn’t let a guy come between you. Insulting each other, isn’t going to make him like you any more than the next person. And, just because he’s hot doesn’t mean he’s “boyfriend material”. There’s such thing as a personality.”

Their eyes glazed over as if she was speaking a foreign language and in the end, she lost hope. “Fine. Whatev---”

“Oh my gods! Look, he’s taking off his shirt!”

Gods, she did not want to be that girl, but it was tempting. Annabeth took a peek from her laptop. She had planned on getting a glimpse and then retreating, but her eyes refused. He had a tanned, olive toned complexion with jet black shaggy hair. She didn’t know what his eye color was from where she was, but something told her they were equally pleasing. Beneath his shirt relieved a toned swimmer’s body. Even with Annabeth’s current heartbreak, he was worth taking a second glance at.

But something felt strange in his expression once he took off his sunglasses. His movements were quick and rushed as he looked at the far end of the pool. She followed his eyes to the shallow pool. Kids were splashing around, but what caught her were two floating floaties drifting around, away from the kids….

No….

She quickly searched for a blonde, but the pool was filled with everything but that. 

No, no, no, no….

She heard the splash first, and looked to see the lifeguard dive into the pool. She took off running, her breath hiking up as she thought of the worst. “MALCOLM!” The scream, itself, echoed, bouncing off and around her.

Just as she was about to dive into the pool, the lifeguard shooted up through the water with a limp, lifeless boy slung over him. Annabeth watched as the guy gently laid her brother on the floor. Malcolm looked pale, as if the tan he had this morning had been washed away by the pool. His lips parted in their blue/black contrast to his skin and not once did she see his chest rise or air come through his lips.

When panic seemed to tip over her like a cup of water, she pushed it upright, stabling herself. She cleared her thoughts, thinking back to when she had learned CPR for curious interest last year. The lifeguard in front of her, hovered over her brother, his ear listening for a heartbeat.

Styx! Why hadn’t she properly watched him, instead of being on her laptop? Instead of listening to those stupid girls... Her frustration and regret was quickening as she watched the lifeguard proceeded to do CPR.

He started to rhythmically push his tightly formed hands up and down Malcolm’s chest and she could see the depth into how far it went in her brother's chest. She was scared and was about to scream for him to be gentle, but she shoved the thought away. It was either a dead boy or an alive one. The lifeguard opened Malcolm's mouth and breathed life into his pale body. When there was no response on Malcolm’s end, he began to pump his hands on his chest again. 

She felt herself trembling and she shoved her shaking hands in her pockets. She watched as he did CPR 20 pumps per breath and she paused, as her mind began to turn. She remembered very distinctly from her Health Textbook that it was 30 pumps per minute….

Realization struck her. He was doing it wrong. He was doing it wrong!

But as she took a step to push the wrongly educated Lifeguarded out of the way, Malcolm’s eye flew open and he turned to the side throwing up the content of water in his body. Annabeth fell to her knees beside her little brother and rubbed his back as he dry heaved. 

Quite an audience had surrounded Annabeth, Malcolm and the lifeguard and they erupted into a loud applause. Several of those girls started shouted sweet praises of the Lifeguard, but he was too focused at looking at Malcolm with immense concern. 

Finally the lifeguard looked her straight in the eyes and it was then Annabeth realized how vibrant his eyes were. Bright, sea green eyes, with dark, wet, thick eyelashes that framed him. He was handsome enough for Annabeth’s mind to go blank, but she came back to focus as Malcolm began another round of coughing. 

Instead of thanking him, she gave him an accusing look, “You did 20 pumps per breath. Not 30.”

He stared at her in disbelief, “What?”

She began to repeat herself, but he held up a hand halfway. This annoyed her. With an attitude, he said, “Yeah, I did. So?”

“You could’ve killed my brother with that miscalculation.” It was a observation, a simple fact. She began to inspect Malcolm’s body for bruising, but he pushed her away. Instead, she helped Malcolm up and the Lifeguard stood up as well, defiantly.

“Kill him! Look lady, I just saved your son’s life!”

Annabeth paused and she gripped Malcolm on the shoulders in front of her. “Fact check: (1) he’s my little brother, (2) you did save him, but he could’ve died if it wasn’t by mere luck.”

"Mere Luck?..." His eyes widened incredulously at her and his mouth dropped open and made an “o” shape. She began to walk away, her day already sucked enough as it is. As she walked past him, he turned around and followed her sight. “Hey Dum--Hey Blondie! If it wasn’t for me, you brother would be dead! And don’t you ever forget it. It's not like I need a ‘Thank you' or anything.”

Annabeth turned around in disbelief...he was about to say Dumb Blonde, wasn’t he? That little… She shouted back fiercely from across the pool, her thoughts going to the color of his eyes, “Yo Seaweed Brain! Maybe study up on your life-saving skills! 30 pumps, got it?”

His fists balled angrily at his sides, and she smirked at her clever insult. He was about to raise a pointed finger in the air, shouting something back, when his manager put a hand on his shoulder and hauled him away.

She turned away, happy at her victory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up Next: Piper


End file.
